May 2005

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

Alex Bitterman: Editor

2005 Horizons Home Show

July 9th - July 24th

New Model Home

Richard Bergman/Heartland Homes and Danise Levine/IDEA Center have collaborated on a universally designed model home to be included in the 2005 Horizon Home Show sponsored by the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association. This onsite home show consists of 10-12 homes built in a new suburban tract and for a small fee, visitors are able to experience each house. The 10-day show typically attracts about 25,000 visitors, and therefore is a great opportunity to showcase universal design.

In addition, the IDEA Center’s collection of universally designed products will be exhibited in the home and other educational material will be available. Given that this house will be the only one in the show with no-step access, we are in the process of arranging an open house free of charge so that any person, regardless of their disability, can come experience it.

Although we are happy to have the opportunity to showcase universal design for the home buying public, we strive to have more houses of this type included in future shows for the enjoyment of all people. These programs not only are a means to educate the public, but also educate builders as well. Through our participation in the Parade of Homes we have attracted the interest of other home builders in our area. Two other builders have shown significant interest in incorporating universal design into their projects.

For more information on the show visit the Buffalo Niagara Builder’s Association website. We will have further updates on our website and in future issues of the E-letter.

If you would like more information or help in doing something similar in your own community, please contact Danise Levine.

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Maisel Completes Visitability Research

Jordana Maisel recently completed a year long research project that explored the latest in visitability, a sustainable and affordable approach to inclusive home design. Her research involved investigating the evolution of accessible housing policy in the United States, the need and history of visitability, as well as the design strategy’s fundamental principles and design guidelines. As part of these research efforts, Jordana also contacted numerous representatives from local and state housing, disability and government offices across the country to obtain the most current information on existing visitability programs and proposed initiatives.

The research findings indicate that as of January 2005, 41 municipalities and states across the country have enacted some type of visitability ordinance or program. Besides these mandatory and voluntary programs already in place, the research identified 12 state and 15 local visitability initiatives currently underway. Although the findings ultimately suggest that the visitability movement continues to gain acceptance and popularity in many local areas, they also reveal that recent challenges and controversies surrounding visitability policy have slowed its rate of adoption. The research explores possible reasons for this stagnation.

An overview of these research findings, including graphs illustrating recent trends in visitability, can be found as a PowerPoint presentation on the Visitability section of our website. Stay tuned for the paper “Toward Inclusive Housing and Neighborhood Design: A Case Study of Visitability”, which is a detailed report of the research findings. We hope to have a copy of the paper available on our website very soon.

The Latest on the Inclusive Home Design Act

The federal visitability bill has a new number! The Inclusive Home Design Act HR1441 currently has 13 cosponsors, with three more representatives already agreeing to sign on. The bill has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee this session. According to Darrell Price at Access Living, Rep. Schakowsky's office is currently doing outreach to specific senators in preparation of introducing a senate version of the bill. She and her staff are working on deciding which Senator would be the best strategic choice to help them push a Senate version most effectively. 

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News on the Wheeled Mobility Study:  

On March 9, Edward Steinfeld, Director of the IDEA Center, presented the findings of recent research the IDEA Center is completing for the U.S. Access Board to the Board’s Research Committee. He presented the findings again to a full meeting of the Board May 9. This work compares international standards with research on the sizes, maneuvering clearances and reaching abilities of wheeled mobility users and their equipment. The IDEA Center team collected and compared standards from the UK, Canada, Australia and the U.S., and then compared the requirements in the standard to research on the anthropometry of wheeled mobility devices from the four countries.

This research includes the findings of the IDEA Center research conducted over the last 5 years through the RERC on Universal Design at Buffalo project and now being supported by the Access Board. This research has collected data on about 280 individuals so far using state of the art digital methods. Research studies completed in all four countries demonstrates that occupied wheeled mobility devices are larger and require larger maneuvering spaces than assumed by the various standards. However, specific findings differ from study to study. The UK has increased their space requirements to take this trend into account and Canada provides supplementary material in their standard. The final report on this research is currently being produced. It will be available through the Board and the IDEA Center later in the spring or early summer. We will announce its availability through the E-Letter.

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Information needed on accessibility and safety of bus stops

Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates under contract with Easter Seals Project ACTION is assembling a toolkit for bus stop accessibility and safety assessment. The toolkit will be available to transit and public works agencies, as well as disability advocates, providing methods on evaluating bus stop accessibility and designing accessible stops. The toolkit will address a broad range of issues, including usage by people with a variety of disabilities, optimal bus stop design and bus stop environments.
In order to assemble the toolkit, a literature search will be conducted to gather as much information as possible on the subject of accessible bus stops. Information may include architectural access, accessible ergonomics, safety regulations, ADA regulations and bus service plans.

If you are aware of documents or information on the subjects mentioned above, or can give us good examples of bus stops in your area that are fully accessible, please let us know, either by:
Calling Krute Singa at 415-281-6927 (we’ll call you back if this is long-distance), sending the information via e-mail to Krute Singa, or mailing the information to the address given below:

Krute Singa
Nelson/Nygaard
785 Market Street, Suite 1300
San Francisco , CA 94103

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ICADI Conference:

The Third International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence will be held at the St. Petersburg Florida Hilton, Feb 1-4, 2006. Call for papers and Conference Registration at the ICADI website.

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Did You Know?
 

The IDEA 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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