The Future of Design Is Designing for Disability

August 30, 2023 6:40 AM

Accessibility should not be a grudging afterthought. With planning, it can lead to elegant, beautiful, and engaging art. (archive.today link)
posted by Etrigan (16 comments total)

I find it distressing that many self-described "UX Engineers" don't know what affordance theory is (which they demonstrate regularly on the socials every time they think they've have some kind of new insight through interacting with physical objects and environments).
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:24 AM on August 30, 2023 [6 favorites]

In my work, because we interact with the federal government, section 508 compliance is becoming mandatory in digital documents. I like the idea of seeing it as a creative challenge for the layout rather than as an additional hoop to jump through.
posted by emjaybee at 7:44 AM on August 30, 2023 [6 favorites]

Aesthetics are a wonderful "nice to have" but not every project needs to become a unique work of art. Follow the guidelines and do what's been done successfully before. Sometimes (all the time) I just want to interact with a fucking building without having to search for an accessible entrance, the elevator, or an accessible bathroom.

Having said that, I can appreciate when a master of design creates something functional and accessible. It's a rare delight and it's not easy, which is why average designers should just stick to a recipe.
posted by thorny at 8:00 AM on August 30, 2023 [9 favorites]

My Smoov is a German designed battery power assist for my manual wheelchair has changed my life in terms of accessibility.

The price is 7k so not affordable for most
posted by angrycat at 8:07 AM on August 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's a constant struggle to get designers to not just allow for but design towards accessibility. That's because, even on fairly utilitarian projects, there are other pressures - program, budget, site - that can make standard solutions difficult. Also, some design moves I support - like putting stairs front and center - can take focus away from universal design. The key thing is to not fall in love with design proposals that create further challenges, - difficult when we revere and share fundamentally inaccessible designs in many, many situations - not just modern or contemporary projects, either! I appreciate the gist of this article, which is that this isn't about providing "special accommodation" to people with "different abilities" - it's about considering what design provides the clearest and most straightforward use to humans.

My only ask is that when you are frustrated by a shoe, or a car, or a building, or a website - consider why this might have come to be, instead of assuming "well, this person was clearly an idiot". You're not doing yourself a service when many of the reasons originate outside the designer's head - and, occasionally, can be impacted by you, through advocacy and political action.
posted by q*ben at 8:14 AM on August 30, 2023 [3 favorites]

Some aesthetically pleasing stepped seating was not accessible to wheelchair users or others with mobility impairments, sending a signal that these communities were not welcome at the library. The debacle ...

I read this as indicating that we shouldn't create public amenities that lack full wheelchair accessibility - is that fair?
posted by grokus at 8:36 AM on August 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

It wasn't just that some seating wasn't accessible to people with mobility impairments, it was that because of those stairs a major part of the library's book collection was inaccessible:

The placement of the adult fiction section on three terracelike levels between the library’s first and second floors was the first issue patrons noticed. A few complained that they couldn’t access the fiction books, because those levels were only accessible by stairs, Gothamist reported.

Queens Library officials responded that librarians could simply retrieve those books for disabled patrons, a solution in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and noted that the first of the four terraces did have elevator access.

But on social media and among advocates for the disabled, that rationale got panned.

“To me, that is the response of somebody who never had the experience of going somewhere and not being able to fully participate,” said Christine Yearwood, founder of the disability rights group, Up-Stand. “Part of what universal design is about is allowing everyone to independently enjoy spaces. Having to ask someone else to help you is, at worst, demeaning, and at best, a limiting experience.”

Source: NYT: New Library Is a $41.5 Million Masterpiece. But About Those Stairs.; archive link.
posted by Lexica at 9:47 AM on August 30, 2023 [9 favorites]

It’s a great case study on “compliance” with ADA that is completely out of spirit with universal design, certainly no CASP professional would sign off on it. Architect puts a big chunk of the fiction section on terraces accessible only by stairs. The “solution” that makes it compliant is apparently asking an (able to use stairs) librarian to fetch items, and/or that one of the terraces has an elevator so there is “like for like”. This solution wouldn’t be compliant in my home state so don’t know how they got away with it, and given that ADA is essentially enforced through litigation I don’t know why the library thought it was ok; they must have been aware since the solution proposed is operational?
posted by q*ben at 10:02 AM on August 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

Also, the project architect’s excuse that the idea of universal accommodation was new in 2010 is hogwash of the first degree. Holl is one of the last remaining starchitects and, especially in NY, gets to do whatever he sees fit, usability be damned. I’m sure they discussed this problem, the weak-sauce access to the first terrace was the “solution” and they moved on to detailing the glazing.
posted by q*ben at 10:11 AM on August 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

Re: Hunters Point Library in LIC, in Lexica's link. There's only one elevator. It was 'on the fritz' during a Curbed journalist's visit last month. Within weeks of opening in Sept. 2019, the $41.5 million building had cracks in the terrazzo concrete floors (including one stretching around 10 feet) and mysterious water leaks. In New York State Supreme Court, the city sued SHA, Steven Holl, and SHA senior partner Christopher McVoy in a suit that alleged that the firm did not comply with the Americans with Disability Act and breached its contract with the city’s Department of Design and Construction. ("Steven Holl Architects could be on the hook for $10 million over Hunters Point Library’s inaccessibility", The Architect's Newspaper, May 22, 2023)
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:46 AM on August 30, 2023 [4 favorites]

I would argue that browsing is itself a function of the library that cannot be replaced. Dignity isn't even an element of it. When you browse, you're checking out the adjacent authors in the subject category, as well as the adjacent subject categories. Even alphabetical order lets you find unexpected works by the same author. Browsing has let me make so many connections that targeted book retrieval would not have allowed for.

And the adult fiction section! That's a major public library function! Had the architects been to a library since undergrad? Hell, hadn't they ever broken their ankle and had to depend on the elevators for a few months?
posted by Countess Elena at 12:08 PM on August 30, 2023 [15 favorites]

Tell me that no one in your architect's office has a disability without using so many words. It should be required that every set of plans for a project that needs to be ADA compliant should be vetted by an outside organization before shovels hit the dirt. That is just the bare minimum level of "we are not absolute fucking clowns over here at XYZ architects."
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:17 PM on August 30, 2023 [5 favorites]

> I read this as indicating that we shouldn't create public amenities that lack full wheelchair accessibility - is that fair?

Yup! it's fair and morally good to ensure that wheelchair users are not excluded from using public services, participating in public life, and accessing employment. IMO "Wheelchair users should be able to access this space" is reason enough to make a building accessible all on its own.

But while wheelchair users are the people most obviously excluded from sections of this library, making those areas wheelchair accessible can also make them easier to use for a lot of other people. The families with strollers (and everyone else who's trying to get through the stroller traffic jam). People who use walkers, canes, or crutches, people with joint problems, chronic pain, and other less-visible disabilities (I can climb stairs, but it sometimes makes my kneecap dislocate so I try to avoid them). And then there are people who can't hold the stairs' handrail because their hands are full of all the books they want to check out!

That "ask the staff for help" workaround is really inadequate. For one thing, it doesn't allow people to browse, which I think is how most of us select books. I sometimes place a hold on the next book in a series or by a favorite author, but I don't usually arrive at the library in search of one specific book, especially when it comes to fiction. And that solution also presumes that the staff don't have any disabilities that prevent them from climbing the stairs. Speaking of staff, I bet they're not having a good time re-shelving books--how are you supposed to get a book cart up a flight of stairs?
posted by threecolorable at 1:33 PM on August 30, 2023 [11 favorites]

Sorry to bang on about the one NYC library, but there are multiple accessibility issues there. "[The library] clearly violated the architectural designs and requirements that the Americans with Disabilities Act calls for," Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier said. She is executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, a group involved in a separate class action suit over the library's design. "I'm a blind person. Being able to navigate is an issue," she said. (CBS News) (The separate action is Jackson v. Queens Borough Public Library, view filing here.)

Here's a photo of the Hunters Point library elevator's second-floor entry, with Braille-less call button.

Accessibility Lawsuits Are Bringing Slow But Steady Wins For Disabled City Residents (NextCity.org, July 12, 2023; archived) looks at a few American cities.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:05 PM on August 30, 2023 [4 favorites]

Queens Library officials responded that librarians could simply retrieve those books for disabled patrons, a solution in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and noted that the first of the four terraces did have elevator access.

But on social media and among advocates for the disabled, that rationale got panned.

“To me, that is the response of somebody who never had the experience of going somewhere and not being able to fully participate,” said Christine Yearwood, founder of the disability rights group, Up-Stand. “Part of what universal design is about is allowing everyone to independently enjoy spaces. Having to ask someone else to help you is, at worst, demeaning, and at best, a limiting experience.”

I've previously recounted on the blue my own local library's curious interpretation of accessibility and random access. At least the disabled patrons in Queens are allowed to get into the building, which is more than they -- we -- get here.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:58 PM on August 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

The FPP article includes the stunning house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent in 1952, "also fully accessible by the standards of the time, built on commission to accommodate Ken’s wheelchair." It's the only building by Wright designed for a person with a disability. The Laurent home in Rockford, Illinois has been a public museum since 2014. Photo gallery.
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:56 PM on August 30, 2023 [2 favorites]