>Date: Thu, 03 Feb 94 11:30:59 EST
>From: [log in to unmask]
>SO... as soon as a person has any sort of physical difficulty, it is not the
>traditional design community which considers this person as part of the
>market which must make use of the product resulting from their design, but
>rather a whole other industry that concerns themselves with developing a
>product for them. Hence the "handicap products industry". I really don't
>know anyone
>who wants to consider themselves handicapped, and buying one of these
>products is often an embarrassment. As a result, I have spent the past five
>years researching and developing products that DO NOT belong to a handicapped
>market, but are simply conceived to consider all individuals in - regardless
>of any physical limitation they may have.
Yes, I had noticed this. It has always annoyed me that "handicapped"
products always *looked* like they were designed "for those poor
hanidcapped people" - not at all stylish or fashionable.
With a little fore thought, most products can be designed with
disabilities in mind. In fact, the resulting product is often easier
to use than "conventional" things. In this I count kitchen utilities,
washing machines, TVs, Phones, beds, doors, bathroom furniture etc.
(Once we did the house up for Mum, it was nicer for us to live in
too).
As a side not, the Apple Macintosh programming guidelines at sprinkled with
advice like:
- do not assume your user has two hands
- do not assume they can hear
- do not assume they can distinguish colours
This sort of thing, in my opinion, should happen everywhere - design
for disability in everyday life, and you will end up with better
products, houses etc. (even for the able bodied).
I wouldn't worry too much about people thinking you have something to
sell - it would be nice to get some good products. In any event, they
are more likely to use you as a consultant!
By the way, has anyone developed a list of "disabled friendly"
products? i.e. particularly easy to use TV's (with decent remote
controls), good push button washing machinies etc. This would be very
useful.
Simon Coles
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