Perceptions and Performance as Indicators of Universal Design's Claimed Benefits

Abstract

This field research project examined the claim that universally designed environments are significantly more usable by all consumers than equivalent non-universally designed environments. To test that claim, the project developed and tested two universal design outcome measures that examined subjective and objective indicators of environments' usability. These measures were then applied in case studies of buildings currently in use that varied in their design features' acknowledgment of the seven Principles of Universal Design.