I haven't had a chance to check out the links, but I remember a few years back (okay, like 15, since I think I was in Montreal at the time) when there was a lot of discussion and press around universal design, which I think is such an underused idea. That involves a focus on the built environment that acknowleges the potential advantages to everyone of incorporating accessibility into design from the get-go, rather than on ad hoc modifications to "fix" one person's needs.

when there was a lot of discussion and press around universal design, which I think is such an underused idea.

Extreme Makeover:Home Edition tends to use a lot of universal design concepts in the design of the main living areas of the houses they build, though I don't think I've ever heard them actually use that phrase. It's definitely what they're doing, though. It always surprises me a bit to see so much thought about how people use the space and how their needs might change put into the main living areas, while they continue to do stuff like built-in princess-themed furniture in a preschooler's room.

My absolute favorite easy yet useful Universal Design thing -- a kitchen with counters at different heights in different places. So some parts of the counter are the right height for an average-sized person standing up, other parts are designed for someone in a wheelchair, other parts are higher up and have stools to sit on, and so on. It accomodates a lot of different people, and it's visually much more interesting than a flat counter.

I got a save-the-date last week for my tenth college reunion. Along with a request for money, which I threw away.

Yeah, I got a "what do you want to do during your twentieth reunion weekend?" letter from my college, along with a request for money. That time of the year, I guess.

there was a lot of discussion and press around universal design, which I think is such an underused idea.

Totally. It can never be completely achieved (mainly because people with different impairments need different things - so crutch-users slip over on the raised bumps that are useful for blind people, in a small example). But it's a great concept that should be attempted more.

If The Girl and I can ever afford a place of our own, we want to install regular-height kitchen units that move down to wheelchair-user-height with a button-push. We've seen some, so we know this is possible. They weren't overwhelmingly affordable, but they weren't priced just for millionaire disabled people either.

regular-height kitchen units that move down to wheelchair-user-height with a button-push.

Wow, that sounds really neat! And it would be great for households with kids, too.

Seska, do you have Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in the UK? I've found it interesting to watch as I've been reading about the various models of disability and thoughts around it. (Basic premise of the show: they find families who have gone through some kind of trouble and, as a result, their house just isn't working for them anymore. The family gets sent on a vacation -- usually Disney World -- while the EM:HE team tears down the house and builds a new one that fits with the family's needs. They always hire a local contractor and other local building-business people, and get a few hundred volunteers from the local area to do the construction stuff that doesn't require as much specialized skill, and a lot of the furniture and appliances are donated by companies that get advertising by the camera taking a few dozen closeups of the labels.)

There have been several episodes featuring either police officers or soldiers who were injured in duty and now had to use a wheelchair, but were still living in a house with the bedrooms up a flight of stairs and hallways too narrow to maneuver in a wheelchair. The last episode I watched, the father had been paralyzed from the waist down, and at the beginning, he was talking about how much he wanted to play with his kids and put the baby to bed and stuff like that. The show put in a playground set in their backyard that was arranged so that he could roll his wheelchair around it and really interact with the kids while they were running around and playing, and a crib for the baby with doors that opened on the side so that he could put the baby in and out of the crib without having to reach over the side rail.

Oh man, this discussion is reminding me that I have to write a scathing email to the folks that run the shuttle bus I take from the train station to work.

I have a friend who's both a full-time wheelie and a serious cook; she designed her own house and her kitchen is TO DIE FOR. (Varying heights, moveable countertops and appliances, varied depths of things. Every time I visit, I reset my brain about how the standardized sizes really aren't so much ideal as just average. Plus, awesome for parties.)

I have trouble with a regular-height kitchen counter just from being too short. "Average height" for design purposes generally starts at about four inches taller than me.

"Average height" for design purposes generally starts at about four inches taller than me.

Nodnod. And not as easy to alter as pants.