Lesson 5:
USER-FRIENDLY PARADE OF HOMES,
UD HOUSING CHECKLIST, AND UD PRACTICE PLAN


TITLE ROW: Line drawings of housing

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After conquering Mission 5, you'll be able to:

  1. Describe specific, prioritized UD housing features that should characterize the exteriors and interiors of both new and remodeled homes for everyone.

  2. Use the UD Housing Checklist to evaluate new and existing dwellings and home plans for their universality.

WORD BANK: Prototype design, built Aon speculation,@ manufactured (vs. modular) housing; basic access, Fair Housing Access Guidelines, accessible route, no-step entry, clear passage, reachable controls, human performance space, wheelchair turning circle, wall reinforcement for future grab bars, retractable cabinet doors,

CONTENT HEADINGS:
Online UD Model Home Locator (by U. S. region, international)
          DUH House Surprise Virtual Tour
Analyzing UD Housing Features in Priority Order
          UD Housing Checklist
Habitat for Humanity UD Practice Plan

IMAGES:
Little boy/carpenter in front of home under construction UD Habitat for Humanity practice plan

LINKS:
See narrative for UD Model Home links, (too many to list and subject to change)

Next Generation UD Prototype house
www.adaptenv.org/udhandbook.org

Dilbert's DUH Home
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/duh/tour.html

Habitat for Humanity Home Plan source (also includes other UD plans)
www.design.NCSU.edu/CUD/

Art Beyond Sight Awareness (month) site
www.artbeyondsight.org/change/aw-n??.html

Fair Housing Amendments Act Accessibility Guidelines
www.FairhousingFIRST.gov

Links to UD home designers?
Ayala, Arizona
Philip Dommer, Minnesota
Walton Dutcher, Florida
John Salmen, Maryland
Charles Schwab, Iowa


QUOTABLE QUOTES:

  1. UD can assure that new homes meet the wide span of individual and family needs ... Designing for our Afuture (older) selves@ is hogwash--the future is NOW!
  2. (High tech) Smart houses are a good idea...if designed...the way people ACTUALLY liveBthe more UNobtrusively the better (Harper).
  3. UD has the unique quality...when well done, it's INVISIBLE (NJ Casino...).
  4. Ensure that your home provides the 'quality of life' you have been working for... Insist on Universal Design! (Martinez).
  5. Many universally-designed products and features look no different, thus don't concern the ablebodied or even people with strong aesthetic values. Furthermore, a universal home is resalable to ANY individual or family (Anon.).

LESSON 5 LEARNING ACTIVITY CHOICES:
UD model home field trip/site visits if possible

  1. ART BEYOND SIGHT AWARENESS MONTH: A GREAT model to use in developing your UD Community Awareness Campaign. Check out their important site for ideas like posters, postcards, and news releases before you go much further with your campaign plans. www.artbeyondsight.org/change/aw-n??.html

  2. EVALUATING MY HOME FOR UD HOUSING FEATURES:

    1. Preparation: List up to five of YOUR family's most important UD housing priorities on a separate sheet. Note which of those needs or wants are met vs. NOT met by your present dwelling. If not met, do you know why? Keep your priority list handy, you may have to re-consider some items after part B below.

    2. Action: Evaluate your home according to the UD Housing Checklist. Your Guide may print copies for everyone. Follow the checklist instructions: Walk in the front door and through the unit room-by-room, checking off items that are present, marking NA (Not applicable) in the blanks of items that are NOT relevant to your family/home, and adding notes as needed. Option for budding designers: You may sketch your home's floor plan in as little or much detail (or to scale) and make notes on it.

    3. Reflection: After you've completed the checklist, on separate paper:
      1. List the UD features NOW PRESENT in your home, numbered in priority order based on your family's CURRENT life cycle stage(s). Don't worry if some items are tied (equally important). Write down your reasons, but you will not need to share them with other youth.

      2. List the UD features currently MISSING from your home, also numbered in priority order based on potential or probable need and importance during your family's FUTURE life cycle stages. You may need separate lists for need vs. importance that's OK. Again, record the reasons FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

      3. For the 3-5 most important MISSING UD features in both 1 & 2, brainstorm some inexpensive or do-it-yourself modifications that might meet the predicted needs, assuming that your family can't afford or prefer NOT to buy the Aexpensive UD things@ NOW.

  3. ADVANCED OPTION FOR SENIOR HIGH Art, Building Trades, Family/Consumer Science classes and after-school groups: Deciding whether to tackle this option is up to Guides, youth, AND the time available.

    Survey local homebuilders to identify which UD features they offer in new or remodeled homes they build, as:
    A) Standard equipment included in the base price
    B) Options, available at various extra costs
    C) Varies with target market group and housing price range
    D) Required by local building code,state law, or federal regulations

Using knowledge you've gained thus far, turn the UD Housing Checklist into a survey and pilot-test it on a 5-6 adults (NOT the same people you plan to survey). After making any needed revisions, administer the survey to the builders, tabulate your data, and prepare a research report. You could present the report to your class and give a copy of the survey results with your thanks to the respondents/builders organization.

If you limit the survey to the Basic and Fair Housing Access items, the builders could complete the survey in less than 10 minutes. Perhaps work through the local homebuilders' chapter or remodelers' organization to complete the survey at their meeting, then discuss it with them. What else can you think of?

Caution: If you try to complete the survey during the building season, contractors may be too busy to participate. Before discovering this too late, your group needs to brainstorm a plan to get their cooperation. These data will provide valuable information, not only for planning the UD Community Awareness Campaign, but also for the homebuilders and remodelers.

Alternate Survey:

OUTCOME-BASED ASSESSMENT:

  1. MAKING CONNECTIONS: Have partners or small buzz groups collaborate to make connections between the model UD homes they viewed online vs. the UD Housing Checklist features. Have them reflect on whether they started to see relationships as they moved from this lesson's first section into the checklist, or saw them after the fact (or not at all)? Why/why not?

  2. LESSON EVALUATION WITH RECOMMENDATIONS: After a final group discussion, have each student write a one-page critique of this lesson's content and methods. Include a FEW good, specific paragraphs with examples on each point (A-D) below:

    1. Applicability and usefulness to their present and future situations;
    2. Ease of using the checklist on their home or sample floor plan, while
    3. Trying to meet the (user) needs of their family or the Resident Profile; and
    4. Their own constructive solutions to specific sections that gave them difficulty. For example, they may compare the UD checklist to other ways of presenting expert suggestions. Or suggest lists with similar-but-different objectives (i.e., custom plan for a specific user's functional status).