Events archive

EXCITING DESIGN EVENT

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design and TrinityHaus would like to invite you to The Awards Ceremony of the 24 Hour Universal Design Challenge

Featuring renowned designer Michael Wolff as keynote speaker

The 24 Hour Universal Design Challenge 2009 will involve 40 Irish design professionals competing on five teams to meet a design brief. The teams will have worked for 24 hours prior to the Awards Ceremony to develop a design concept that meets the requirements of the brief.

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in conjunction with the Council of Europe launched the Council of Europe publication "Achieving Participation through Universal Design" on the 1st October 2009. The Launch was Chaired by John Bowman, and included a panel discussion on the benefits and challenges of implementing Universal Design in a range of projects and situations at both organisational and government levels.

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in conjunction with the NCBI Centre for Inclusive Technology (CFIT) hosted a seminar on accessible ICT Procurement on the 24th September 2009. A keynote address was given by Cynthia Waddell, Executive Director and Law, Policy and Technology Subject Matter Expert, International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet (ICDRI), USA

A Seminar on "Universal Design in 3rd level and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Education incorporating Outcomes Measurement" took place on the 23rd of September 2009 at the National Disability Authority 25 Clyde Road Dublin 4. The guest speakers included Marcia J. Scherer, USA Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation University of Rochester Medical Center.

Marcia J. Scherer, Ph.D., MPH, President, Institute for Matching Person & Technology, USA Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation University of Rochester Medical Center

This half-day seminar with Mike Donnelly of Habinteg on Lifetime Adaptable Homes covered:

• History
• Need for Lifetime Homes
• Universal/Inclusive Design
• Technical Lifetimes Home Standard
• Policy and progress in the UK
• Lifetime Homes internationally / Universal Design movement
• Lifetime Homes and Ireland

The Irish Internet Association's User Experience Working Group presented a half day seminar on the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 from the W3C.

The Centre's Senior ICT Design Advisor, Dónal Rice, presented on "Legislation, Procurement & Digital Accessibility".

A policy conference hosted by the University of Pittsburgh was held on June 12th and 13th 2009 which explored transatlantic perspectives in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Thornburgh Room of Pittburg's Hillman Library, Oakland, USA. The conference explored the Convention's emphasis on accessibility from a human rights perspective.

This presentation and facilitated discussion with Alison Wright of "Easy Living Home Ltd" looked at good design for both bathroom and kitchens.

With the growing trend of financial institutions, airlines and government bodies using the web as their main contact point with customers, issues of accessibility and usability are becoming increasingly important for older people. But what are the main issues faced by older people when surfing the web and what does the research tell us about these issues?

This presentation and facilitated discussion with Andrew Arch looked at the research findings and recommendation of the Web Accessibility Initiative's Aging Education and Harmonisation (WAI-AGE) project.

Rob Imrie, Professor of Geography at King’s College London, explored the issues and benefits in making Shared Spaces Universally Designed, that is, designed to be used by the widest range of people possible, regardless of age, disability or size. Traffic congestion and safety as well as economic and social vitality can be effectively tackled in streets and other public spaces if they are designed and managed to allow traffic to be fully integrated with other human activity, not separated from it. Shared space is a streets planning concept that promotes the reduction of barriers between pedestrians and vehicles, and the elimination of traffic signs and signals.

This guest lecture by the Centre's Senior ICT Design advisor, Dónal Rice, explored some of the ethical, professional and legal implications of Universal Design in the context of Engineering.

Students undertaking Dublin City University's (DCU) first year Engineering module on "Professional and Personal Skills" were briefly introduced to the concept of Universal Design, its history, principles, processes and practices.

CEUD held a 2 hour seminar with Sean Mc Dougall,Stakeholder Design www.stakeholderdesign.com entitled "Better Design through User Participation". Sean spoke about his experiences in working on a wide variety of projects that pushed the boundaries on participatory design, resulting in a better service design which led to systemic change within the organisation.

Conference proceedings will be available shortly

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, NDA, is holding 2 events as part of Irish Design Week, 2008.