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On DSA's Universal Design web pages, you'll receive an introduction to Universal Design concepts, as well as links to DSA Accessibility resources and to other recognized authorities on Accessibility and Universal Design.
What is Universal Design?
"Universal Design" is a broader, more comprehensive "design-for-all" approach to the development of products, architecture, and environments around human diversity. Universal Design recognizes the changing diversity of needs important to all people regardless of their varying age, ability, or condition during an entire lifetime. By comparison, "accessibility" has traditionally focused on addressing the needs of people with circumstances distinct from those of the public at large, when in fact almost everyone is, over the course of their lifetime, able to benefit from barrier-free design, user-friendly architecture, and a comfortable environment.
Some readers may be surprised to know that Universal Design is not new — it has been an influence in accessibility all along. In recent years, Universal Design has become an international focus for designers, gaining momentum as a result of the increase in the number of people in the world coming to "retirement age." The ratio of the number of people working to the number of people who will not be employed due to age or limited physical ability is changing dramatically. People are expected to be self-reliant whenever possible. Universal Design encompasses the range of needs each of us encounter during the course of a lifetime.
Universal Design: General Information
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