Workplace Design for Accessibility (Robin White-Sieber)

According to Van Tiem, work design (also called job design) interventions can include:

• Ergonomics: the science of fitting the job to the worker
• Preventive Maintenance and Safety Engineering:A proactive approach to keep processes and machinery in working order, and to maintain a healthful work environment
• Work Methods:Techniques by which an organization defines what work needs to be done and how it will be accomplished
• Value Engineering:Determining the amount of value added to the org by each job and unit, it is driven by customer needs and requirements
• Quality Management and Continuous Improvement:The process employed to facilitate that work units meet the required standards of the organization and that quality improvement is integral to the work of all
• Interface Design:When workers, machinery and process interact for user-friendly functioning

Accessibility

Companies must address the needs of its workers who have disabilities and meet the legal and governmental mandates for Accessibility such as the U.S.’s Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This extends from environments to technologies. A movement that addresses these issues is Universal Design.

American architect, Michael Bednar ² introduced the idea that everyone's functional capacity is enhanced when environmental barriers are removed. He suggested that a new concept beyond accessibility was needed that would be broader and more universal. According to Barbara Knecht ¹ it is “a worldwide movement that approaches the design of the environment, products, and communications with the widest range of users in mind”. 

The benefits of this design extend to a wider range of people than just the disabled. For example, the “barrier-free design” of sidewalks with ‘corner dips’ helps mothers with strollers as well as wheelchair bound individuals; the attention to ergonomic conditions for a visually impaired person can also benefit other workers, especially in computer workers. (A recent Ophthalmologic study found 75 to 90 percent have symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome - eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, dry and irritated eyes, neck and/or back aches, and light sensitivity).

This worldwide movement brings together many disciplines such as Architects, Interior Designers, Office Furniture manufacturers such as Herman Miller as well as technology companies to apply the principles of Human Factors, Ergonomics, Space Planning and Usability to design inclusively for people across the spectrum of functional ability.

Principles of Universal Design

• Equitable Use: The design does not disadvantage or stigmatize any group of users.
• Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
• Simple, Intuitive Use: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, language skills, or current concentration level.
• Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or sensory abilities.
• Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
• Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.
• Size & Space for Approach & Use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user's body size, posture, or mobility.

Perhaps it’s time to examine our assumptions about ‘disability’ being a rare and static condition.

1. The fact is that no one is ‘average’ - there is a much wider range of ability/disability that should be considered.
2. “Never before in history have we been as varied in age and ability as we are at the start of the new century. Design matters more than ever.” – Elaine Ostrof ³ of Adaptive Environments⁴.
3. There are age-related changes to mental, physical and sensory abilities, and by the year 2020, the entire baby boom generation will be 55 –73 and most likely still working. “The largest cohort that universal design in Europe and America seeks to include is aging baby boomers, who will soon begin to find the world more difficult to navigate.”  - Barbara Knecht ¹. 
4. There are those who are otherwise qualified and have chronic disabilities (physical such as in a wheel chair, amputee, visual or auditory impairments, learning disability, etc.).
5. There are those with temporary disabilities (fractures, sprains, minor surgery, or circumstances such as fatigue, high nose levels, poor lighting, mental and emotional conditions etc.).

Accessibility is in the interest of business

Companies whose environments, products and technology are designed with Universal Design principles can prevent disabilities and injuries from happening thus preserving individuals’ functionality and saving companies and government millions of dollars per year.  Also, “By aligning business policies and practices with the needs of the changing workforce, employers will retain valuable employees while maximizing productivity and, ultimately, competitiveness. Such investments send the message that employability is not a function of age but rather of each employee's ability to make a meaningful contribution to the employer's business goals and objectives.”  -Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/goodbusiness.aspx

Case Studies

Making the Job Easier for Everyone
http://home.earthlink.net/~jlminc/workplace_cases.html

Job accommodation: designing this task for accessibility made the job safer, easier, and more productive for the disabled worker and other workers.

A window manufacturer needed to cut large rolls of metal strips into short pieces with hand snips. Before, the job was difficult since the worker needed to be in a kneeling position to unwind some metal, then measure and cut it in 9” lengths. It was difficult to do the job accurately all day without injury due to the cut end springing back. It was considered the ‘worst’ job in the company. The supervisor devised a creative accommodation by fabricating a very large “tape dispenser” from plywood. The job could then be done from a comfortable height, the end of the metal roll could be slid through a gate and measured and secured for safe cutting.  The worker was able to more quickly and efficiently do the job safely without waste, and this became one of the most preferred jobs.

Sears  (technology partnership with MS, others) 
http://www.sears.com/download/advisor/careers_featured.pdf

Assistive Technology: A good worker develops a disability and his company wants him to come back to work.

Tony Norris ran in the 1984 Chicago Marathon. Two years later doctors discovered a tumor on his spinal cord that doctors removed. He was left paralyzed from the neck down. After rehab, his former supervisor asked, “what will it take to bring you back?” The answer was a set of physical accommodations and assertive technologies. He uses Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition software that runs on his Windows 2000-based computer that enables his PC to respond to the sound of his voice to use off the shelf applications like Word, Excel, Power Point and email. He also has a special phone dialing system that calls and answers the phone just using his voice.

Accommodating disabled customers: At 3000 retail locations changes have been made to physical spaces, including accommodations like TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) and TTY (Teletypewriter) for people with hearing impairments

Consultants, Companies, Researchers, Writers

Elaine Ostroff
Adaptive Environments (http://www.adaptenv.org/index.php)
“Universal Design Handbook”

Jim Mueller
Designing for Real People (http://home.earthlink.net/~jlminc/index.html)
"Office and Workplace Design"

The Center for Universal Design  (http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm)

Usernomics   (http://www.usernomics.com/index.html)

American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) (http://www.asid.org/asid2/resource/ud_info.asp)

Herman Miller (http://www.hermanmiller.com/)

Universal Design Education Resources (http://www.udeducation.org/index.asp)

Microsoft Accessibility Group (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/default.aspx)

RERC -Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations  (http://www.workrerc.org/)

Trends and Buzzwords

Adaptability: The capability of the space to be rearranged easily

Interactivity: The ability of the space to respond to evolutionary change through use

Accessibility:  Ensuring that environments and technology can be navigated and used by everyone

Barrier-Free Design:  individuals can freely navigate without barriers, for example ramps and washroom access for wheelchair bound individuals

Visitable environments: people with mobility difficulties should be afforded basic access to newly constructed homes in order for them to be "Visitable" by building a no-step entrance, wide doorways, main floor bathroom large enough to enter with a wheelchair

Functionally efficient environment incorporates comfort, communication and access in designing a space so that it is easy to perform a task in the space

Universal Design: design that is inclusively accessible to all.

Resources

1 Accessibility Regulations and a Universal Design Philosophy inspire the Design Process by Barbara Knecht
http://www.adaptenv.org/index.php?option=Resource&articleid=356&topicid=280

2 Michael Bednar
http://www.adaptenv.org/index.php?option=Content&Itemid=26

3 Elaine Ostrof
http://www.designfor21st.org/

4 Adaptive Environments
http://www.adaptenv.org/index.php?option=Content&Itemid=2

The Center for Universal Design Principles of Universal Design
http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm

Center for Inclusive Design & Environmental Access (IDEA)
http://www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/indexwelcome.html

RERC Workplace Accommodation Policy: 10 Key Issues
http://www.workrerc.org/News/10WorkplacePolicies.php

Universal Design Education Online Resources
http://www.udeducation.org/resources/index.asp

Guidelines for Universally Accessible and Usable Workplaces
http://www.adaptenv.org/documents/guidelines_for_workplaces.pdf

Adaptive Environments Universal Design Resources
http://www.adaptenv.org/index.php?option=Resource&topicid=28

Productive Workplaces: How Design increases productivity: Expert insights ASID
http://www.asid.org/about_asid/products_services/pubs/productive_workplaces_whitepaper.pdf

Microsoft: Making Technology Accessible – Accessibility for your entire workforce
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/books/homeandofficeuser/feature/060502.asp

Microsoft: Aging Workforce and Accessible Technology
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/workforce.aspx

Usernomics
http://www.usernomics.com/workplace-ergonomics.html

Herman Miller ‘Equal Opportunity Facilities – Designing for Universal Accommodation’ 2001
http://www.hermanmiller.com/hm/content/research_summaries/wp_Equal_Opp_Facilities.pdf

Council of Europe: Accessibility: Principles and Guidelines
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Social_Cohesion/soc-sp/Accessibility-%20principles%20and%20guidelines.pdf

Accessibility in Our Built Environment: Visitability
http://www.ncddr.org/du/products/focus/focus8/