January 2005

Your source for current news and announcements about the Center for Inclusive Design and Envrionmental Access (I.D.E.A) in Buffalo, NY. 

Alex Bitterman: Editor

Bitterman and Tauke conducting work on Universal Design Identity Program:

Identity programs are composed of a variety of tangible (brand name, signature color or colors, logo, icon, symbol, environmental design, audible slogan or soundmark) and intangible (behavior, image, strategy, and overall industry identity) elements which allow people to distinguish and remember the unique qualities of a product, concept, or service from other "competing" products, concepts, or services. 

While the International Symbol of Accessibility has been effective at identifying accessible options, the symbol does not speak to notions of equality. 

Because identity programs also help to build trust in a specific product, concept, or service, Bitterman and Tauke hope to do just that.  The new identity under development will be one that can be used to signify products, places, and systems that are universally designed and that everyone can enjoy.

Throughout February and March, Bitterman and Tauke will be recruiting stakeholders interested in critiquing and offering opinion on prototype identity designs.

This is a major undertaking, and we need your help!  If you are interested in participating in an on-line focus group, please e-mail Alex Bitterman at aeb1@ap.buffalo.edu.  Or, if you are in the Buffalo area, and would be interested in participating in a roundtable discussion, please e-mail Beth Tauke at tauke@ap.buffalo.edu.

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IDEA Center Launches New Publications Site

Upgrade your bookmarks! In response to your feedback, IDEA has upgraded its publications website. 

Director for Information Design and Dissemination, Alex Bitterman notes "our stakeholders many thoughtful letters, e-mails, phone calls, and comments have helped to direct our efforts, of which this new web site is one.  We are grateful  for this important feedback, and invite all our our stakeholders to offer feedback and suggestions.  We will work hard to integrate as many suggestions as possible over the coming months."

Overwhelmingly, IDEA stakeholders tell us that when it comes to information, flexibility is important.  Some users like to use only web-based information, while others prefer PDF or raw-text files, while still others prefer source document (such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and Word documents), while still others prefer "good old fashioned paper versions".

We have worked very hard, as I hope you will find, to make each publication and dissemination product, available in as many formats as possible.  If you find that a publication or dissemination product is not usable for you, please contact us using the method most convenient for you.  We'll make sure that we get you a copy that is.

Visit the new site at http://idea.ap.buffalo.edu/publications/index.asp

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Lots of progress in Anthropometric Project

R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo Research Associate, David Feathers reports that the first version of the Anthropometry Manual is complete and will be distributed to other scientists in the coming months for review.

The Full-Scale Modeling efforts are underway. These protocols examine daily tasks for wheeled mobility users in a full-scale setting. and a body motion study on reaching tasks for female manual wheelchair users was completed by research associate Mieko Naido last month. Her work has yielded significant results for a variety of reaching tasks.

The anthropometric project is excited that further collaborative efforts with Erie County Medical Center has yielded additional wheeled mobility user participants in the following protocols: static anthropometry, functional anthropometry, maneuvering and demographics. We hope that this continued relationship will introduce more participants to our research.

For more information about the Anthropometric Project, visit our website at http://www.ap.buffalo.edu/rercud/projectR1.htm or contact David Feathers.

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New R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo prototype traveling exhibit a hit at R.E.S.N.A.

The R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo unveiled the prototype eat | live | work | play traveling exhibition to an enthusiastic crowd at the 2004 R.E.S.N.A. Conference in Orlando, FL.

Participants were asked to complete a survey about the exhibit to win a Sensa pen.  We're pleased to announce the winner of the pen:

Mr. Patrick Meeker, Lexington, KY

Congratulations to Pat!

For more information about the exhibition please visit the exhibition website: www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/elwpexhibit

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The EasyLiving Home program is now ready to expand beyond Georgia!

The R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo is pleased to announce that our friends at EasyLiving Homecm are growing!

EasyLiving Home is the nation's first voluntary certification program that specifies criteria in everyday construction to add convenience in your new home and to welcome all friends, family and visitors regardless of age, size or physical ability, a home visitable by everybody!!

The EasyLiving Homecm program, officially launched in Georgia in 2001, now boasts more than twenty participating for-profit home builders and more than forty certified homes and these numbers are growing.

With visitability becoming better known nationally, the market for universally designed houses larger than ever, and many inquiries about EasyLiving Homecm     from around the nation, we have decided it is time to implement the program beyond Georgia!

If you have an interest in getting involved in your state or would like to get more information about the upcoming EasyLiving Homecm Replication Summit, please contact Mettina van der Veen, Replication Project Director via email  mettina@easylivinghome.org

or phone at (404) 723-5503.

For more information on the program in Georgia, visit the EasyLiving Homecm website www.easylivinghome.org.  For more information about visitability, visit our recently updated website at www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/visitability.  Our website is linked to Concrete Change, the international leader in visitability research and advocacy.

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R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo to show

The R.E.R.C on Universal Design at Buffalo and the IDEA Center have again collaborated with Heartland Homes to create a universally designed home for display in the 2004 Horizon Home Show located at Waterford Village in Clarence (near Buffalo), NY.

The 2600 sq. ft. home integrates usability with other important design concerns like aesthetics, sustainable design efficiency. The show will run from July 10th-July 25th.

Click on the small floor plan for a full size floor plan.

For more information about the Horizons Home Show visit the show website at http://www.bnba.org/Horizons/horizons2004.asp or visit the Heartland Homes webpage at http://www.heartlandhomesinc.com/

Specific comments or questions about the home design can be directed via e-mail to our Director of Technical Assistance, Danise Levine, drlevine@ap.buffalo.edu.

R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo Partner Boston Children's Museum to Unveil New Exhibit

The Boston Children's Museum pioneered the concept of interactive exhibitions used widely in museums today. Designed and built in-house, exhibits from The Children's Museum of Boston have been replicated at prestigious institutions throughout the world. Exhibits focus on early childhood development and have three themes: arts, culture, and science. 

The Museum's newest exhibit access/ABILITY opened June 17,2004.  The exhibition is intended to raise  awareness of people with disabilities, while reinforcing the idea that differences in ability are an intrinsic part of the human experience.

The R.E.R.C. has been working closely with the Museum to integrate universally designed features and products into the exhibition design.  Several of the products to be exhibited are on loan from extensive product library at the R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo.  Other products and technologies to be exhibited have been requested from other N.I.D.R.R. funded R.E.R.C.s, under the leadership of the R.E.R.C. on Universal Design at Buffalo.

According to Anastacia Pathiakis, exhibition project manager for the Museum, "each person in our society is considered unique, and differences in ability are an intrinsic part of the human experience. This exhibit will promote understanding and acceptance of differences, while at the same time encouraging positive communication and behavior."

For more information contact:
The Children's Museum, Boston at (617) 426-6500 or on the web at www.bostonkids.org

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Did You Know?
 

The R.E.R.C. on Universal Design Newsletter features advanced accessibility features and supports browser-native accessibility features.  Try holding down the CTRL key and rolling the mouse scroll button, this will allow you to change the size of the text from very small to very large, depending on your preference.

For additional information about accessibility features in Microsoft Internet Explorer and other Microsoft Products, visit the Microsoft Accessibility Site at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/. 

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