Tag: universal design

Is Social Sustainability the Forgotten Pillar of Sustainable Development?

Social Structures

Symposium

Author: Ruth O’Reilly, Senior Built Environment Design Advisor, Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, National Disability Authority

Here at the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, we often use this quotation from the designer, Victor Papanek, to explain the focus of our work:

The only important thing about design is how it relates to people Quotation 'The only important thing about design is how it relates to people' alongside an image of a book with the title Design for the Real Workld, by Victor Papanek.
Figure 1: Quotation from Design for the Real World by Victor Papenek (1971)

A key tenet of Universal Design is that good design works well for everyone. Sometimes however, it seems that social sustainability is the forgotten pillar of sustainable development. How can we persuade designers that taking a Universal Design approach – designing for all people, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability – is a key element of sustainable development?

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December 3rd 2021, UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Fighting for Rights in the Post – COVID Era

Stories/Lived Experiences

Symposium

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Author: James Cawley, Policy Officer, Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI)

James Cawley
James Cawley

First of all, a big thank you to the “ALL Blog” for asking me back to contribute for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It has been an extremely busy year, (all online), with working from home and receiving endless updates on the Covid-19 pandemic. December 3rd is the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and I sit here with straw and a mug of tea in hand, writing this blog one year since it started!

I’m a very proud Irish disabled man who is a son, brother, husband, friend and co – worker. I also work as a Policy Officer for Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI).

We are a campaigning, ‘national cross-impairment disabled person’s organisation’ or ‘DPO’ as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

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Disability and urban accessibility in cities: how can we improve?

Author: Nicola Posteraro, Qualified Italian Lawyer, Post-Doctoral Research fellow in Administrative Law, University of Milan, Qualified as Associate Professor of Administrative Law

Social Structures

Dr Nicola Posteraro

According to data compiled by the National Association of Workers with health conditions or impairments (ANMIL), there are cities in Italy where people with disabilities can live their life and exercise their free movement right on an equal basis with others, and other cities that are still very hostile. Accessibility interventions, when undertaken, are often inadequate. This is due to the lack or limitation of public funding available, and to the regulatory fragmentation, which certainly does not help those who have to apply the legal provisions on accessibility. Not all residents are able to have equal access to the services of the city, to participate in municipal decision-making processes and to benefit from the economic growth of the city. This is a problem that negatively impacts on the fundamental right to health of people with disabilities: in fact, being able to access places and public facilities allows mobility and amplifies the network of social relations. While the data above concerns Italy, a similar situation can be found in many other countries.

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Creating this Accessible Blog Site: Taking small steps to making accessibility a reality

Social Technologies

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Author:  Hilary Hooks, Department of Law, ALL Institute, Maynooth University

Hilary Hooks - profile picture

Earlier this year I was tasked with creating an accessible blogsite for the ALL Institute.  While I welcomed the opportunity to do so, my background and expertise is that of an administrator, with little web accessibility experience.  The process of making this blog site as accessible as possible has been a steep learning curve for me and I would like to share some of my new-found understanding of the issues and accessibility tools. 

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) states that access to “information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems” is a human right (Article 9 CRPD), and, among other things, requires States Parties to the Convention to ensure that websites are accessible to people with disabilities.

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