August 2005

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

Jordana Maisel Editor
Heamchand Subryan Technical Assistant

Universally Designed Model Home in the 2005 Horizons Home Show a Huge Success!

Danise Levine, Assistant Director of the IDEA Center and Richard Bergman from Heartland Homes collaborated on the design of a universally designed model home that was included in the 2005 Horizon Home Show. Sponsored by the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association, this year’s home show was located at Lake Forest in Amherst, New York and consisted of eight homes built in a new suburban tract. The show ran from July 9th through July 24th.

The Heartland Homes house was designed using universal design principles for "aging in place". Aging in place targets older and middle aged people and addresses their preference to stay in their own homes as they age. Adaptable design features make it easy to modify the house to suit individual needs or preferences of the residents as they change over time. The model house has all the features of a conventional house, but some design features are concealed until needed so the home can look the same as other houses. If modifications are required, they are readily achievable without the use of skilled labor and without changing the inherent structure of the home. For example, in this home, a no step entry, wider doors and hallways, barrier-free shower, maneuvering clearances, kitchen countertops at multiple heights, lower electrical switches, and other access features were clearly visible and integrated into the overall design. Other less obvious features included blocking behind the walls in all bathrooms to provide reinforcement for future grab bars and a concealed knee space at the kitchen sink with base cabinet doors that fold and slide back when needed.

This house was the only one in the show with a no-step entry. Therefore, people with mobility limitations could visit it. Ms. Levine contacted local disability organizations, advocacy groups and service providers and arranged many tours of the home. Her efforts illustrated the benefits of adaptable and universal design resulted to a large audience of people who would otherwise not attend a home show.

Visitors to the universally designed model home were asked to complete a brief survey so that the architect, builder and IDEA Center staff could assess their familiarity with universal design, their impressions of the home and the value of model homes as an education tool. The results from the survey will be shared in an upcoming E-Newsletter.

If you would like more information, please contact Danise Levine

Additional information about the Horizons Home Show is available on the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association website.

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Steinfeld, Maisel and Feathers Complete Report for U.S. Access Board

The report "Standards and Anthropometry for Wheeled Mobility" is now available online. The report was prepared by IDEA Center staff at the request of the U.S. Access Board to provide guidance in the future development of the ADA-ABA Guidelines and in providing technical assistance to designers and code developers. The analysis highlights the importance of integrating research with standards development, organizing international research collaborations and developing international standards.

Standards for accessible design include requirements based on the anthropometry of wheeled mobility users. Key requirements apply to clear floor area, reach limits, knee and toe clearances and maneuvering clearances. Advisory information is also often included on the characteristics of mobility devices. The U.S. standards are based on research completed in the late 1970’s. Advances in wheeled mobility technology and demographic changes that have occurred since that time suggest that the U.S. standards may be out of date. Since that time, research on the anthropometry of wheeled mobility users has been conducted in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. All those countries have revised or are revising their standards based on that research. The IDEA Center has been collecting data on wheeled mobility users in the U.S. for five years and data collection will continue at least through 2006. Enough data has been collected to start a dialogue on the significance of the findings.

The research in the U.S. and the three other countries were reviewed and compared to identify needs for improving standards. Many differences were discovered in both the standards and research studies. Although research results differ, trends in the data support making many important revisions to the U.S. standards to address the reality of contemporary wheeled mobility use. But, since research methods differ from study to study, there is a need for a close analysis to understand the findings and apply them appropriately. Most of the studies were not well documented and raise many questions about the results. The IDEA Center study is well documented and provides a flexible data set to complete many different types of analyses, not all of which have been included in the present report. The comparative analyses developed for this report provide a framework for the future comparison of research findings and standards and offer a foundation for improving the utilization of research for standards development. They also provide many important insights in design for wheeled mobility. The analysis highlighted the importance of integrating research with standards development, organizing international research collaborations and developing international standards.

The full report is now available online in multiple formats at the Anthropometrics on Wheeled Mobility website.

If you would like more information, please contact Jordana Maisel or Edward Steinfeld.

New Report: Visitability as an Approach to Inclusive Housing and Community Development: A Look at its Emergence, Goals and Challenges

As mentioned in an earlier E-Newsletter, Jordana Maisel recently completed a year long research project that explored the latest in visitability, a sustainable and affordable approach to inclusive home design. This paper is the culmination of her research and explores the growing need for accessible housing in the United States and the recent emergence of visitability as an affordable and sustainable design strategy aimed at increasing the number of accessible single family homes and neighborhoods. Both a qualitative and quantitative methods approach was utilized to study the evolution of accessible housing policy in the United States. The article examines the history and fundamental principles of visitability, the trends in the visitability movement and the challenges and controversies currently surrounding and potentially threatening its future success.

"Visitability as an Approach to Inclusive Housing and Community Development: A Look at its Emergence, Goals and Challenges" is a detailed report of the research findings. The paper is now available online in multiple formats at the Visitability Online web site.

The Latest on the Inclusive Home Design Act

The Inclusive Home Design Act HR 1441 currently has 25 cosponsors and 25 participating organizations. The bill was recently endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors and received support from National Fair Housing Alliance. For more information on the status of the bill please go to the Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing (DRACH) website.

International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence

The Third International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence (ICADI) will be held at the St. Petersburg Florida Hilton, Feb 1-4, 2006. The IDEA Center is a Conference Partner. Edward Steinfeld, Director of the IDEA Center, is the program chair for the Housing, Home Modifications and Universal Design track of the conference. There will be many sessions available for this subject and there is a lot of flexibility for how they can be used. Please note that the deadline for submissions for symposia, workshops and paper presentations is September 1.

The following is some detailed information about the conference. Please circulate this information to your colleagues. We hope to have a strong representation in universal design at the event.

The University of Florida, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for Successful Aging presents:

International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence
Advancing Technology & Services to Promote Quality of Life

February 1-4, 2006
St. Petersburg, FL, USA

Click here to visit ICADI website

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Call for Papers, Symposia, Posters and Technology Demonstrations

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