Lesson 8: DESIGN CRIMES ON TRIAL: JUDGE JUDY PRESIDING



TITLE ROW: Authoritarian signs...

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Before JJ's gavel drops, you'll be sentenced to:

  1. Serve arrest warrants on bad designs that have LIMITED usability, are safety hazards, NON-human factored, and DO NOT MEET at least three UD Principles.

  2. Prepare the Judge's instructions to the jury, noting indicators of design excellence to look for, and explaining why price alone may NOT be a reliable measure of WHETHER the alleged Awell-designed@ product IS universally designed.

WORD BANK: Pedestrian bridge, 'reasonable accommodation,' platform lift, equity/equal treatment, ADA, 'design for civil rights' sustainable design, electronic flush control, 'tall' toilets, water-conserving vs. self-cleaning WCs, wall reinforce-ment for grab bars, bidet, all-in-one bathroom fixtures, lines of sight,

CONTENT HEADINGS:
Gettin' Down on Bad Designs
A Bridge Designed for Venice: The Problem
          Ba-a-ad Designs Made in USA
Back to the Future: The Bridge Solution
Advanced Option: The Great Water Closet Design Problem
Toilet Design Specifications
Globalization and Fixture Design
New Bathroom Innovations

IMAGES:
Accessible witness chair lift: Would the Judge acquit? (Does it meet regulations?)
More/selected 'Heads of the Masters'
Transfer/maneuvering disk sequence (3)
Toto washlet combination toilet/bidet
Dude with a Disability crows about his GRATE ramp

LINKS:
Darnell's Bad Designs site
www.baddesigns.com (Sublinks to Human Factors and Ergonomics Societies)


Witness Stand Accessor Box
www.verticalmobility.com

Architect Calatrava's web site
http://www.calatrava.com/1/index.html

Italian architectural firm: HB Group web site (Venetian bridge, plus hi-low sink)
http://www.hbgroup.it/calatrava/world.htm

TotoUSA: The Washlet toilet/bidet combo
http://www.totousa.com

Hygienicare All-in-One bath
www.hygienicare.com

Another All-in-One bath design
www.us.geberit.com/us/Webusnsf/page/prod_toil_shower_1

ABright idea@ for bathroom safety
www.visionglow.com.au


QUOTABLE QUOTES:

  1. Most things have good, workable designs. We don't notice them....But bad designs call attention to themselves....It seems more important to give examples of bad designs and identify the characteristics that make them bad (Darnell).
  2. Linking Civil Rights and social justice goals with design codes and standards confuses the dickens out of many designers (Unknown source).
  3. In the 21st Century, people have NO EXCUSE for making inclusiveness an afterthought. It should be a GIVEN (Gould).

Lesson 8 LEARNING ACTIVITY CHOICES:
Holmes/Watson do local access audit to identify local/community design crimes

  1. THOUGHT QUESTION: Since geography dictates that Venice can only be a Apartially accessible city,@ why make such a BIG DEAL about that >Beautiful But NOT For All' bridge design?

    Question the assumption the use of the word, 'Since,' seems to imply. Then consider whether EUROPEANS with mobility limits are worse off (how and why) than Americans who are homebound because so many U. S. workplaces and public transportation systems have no wheelchair access. So, maybe you haven't been to Europe, but give this one a shot anyway (more of that ole problem-solving...).

  2. TEENS TO THE RESCUE: Consider the dilemma described below by Eleanor Smith (founder of the Visit*Ability Movement, see Lesson 10), then reach consensus on recommendation(s) about what she and her friends should do:

    'I had to give up going to the symphony in my home town (Atlanta, GA) because in the existing hall, I could not hear well. The only wheelchair accessible seats are in the back of the hall under the balcony (at top price level), but the sound was muffled. I longed to be up in the inaccessible balcony where tickets were cheaper and the sound better.'

    'When I heard that a wonderful new hall would be going up (designed by a Mr. Calatrava, whom I'd never heard of), I began writing very polite letters to the relevant decision makers, stressing the needs for equal access to seats at all price ranges and with equal lines of sight. (NO one has to sit behind a post or behind an audience that rises to its feet, calling for an encore....).'

    'No responses, until weeks later after I wrote again with copies of a news article about a lawsuit against a local facility with terrible lines of sight for people with mobility impairments. Only later did I learn that the world-famous architect chosen to design Atlanta's new symphony hall was somewhat renown for lack of access.'

    Think about and discuss what you'd recommend that Ms. Smith and her friends do to get the Aaccessible seating into ADA compliance? P. S: This is the same civil rights issue that forced several new American sports stadia to re-do their 'accessible' seating at great expense so people in wheelchairs can see the field without their view being blocked by cheering, STANDING fans!

  3. BAD vs. UNIVERSAL DESIGN YOUTH PRODUCTS COMPARISON: At home, school, or discount store, find 1-2 examples or photos of teen products that you consider to be BADLY designed. Test yourself on why you think they're Agross@ and how you might RE-design them.

    Then find real examples or photos of 1-2 youth-focused products that each meet at least four UD Principles. Show and tell your friends why the universally-designed products are much better (and hopefully no more expensive).

  4. WORD PLAY: Define 'pedestrian' the TWO different ways it's used in the following SENTENCE: 'His design was pedestrian for the pedestrian bridge.' U-pun my word! Judge Judy doesn't sentence THAT way....