A new viewpoint on inclusive design practice

In recent years, a great deal has been written on Inclusive Design, and its attempts to make products accessible to as many people as possible; the most formal and thorough of these is probably BS 7000:2005*, which gives an accurate definition of the concept: *“Inclusive Design: design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, people with the widest range of abilities within the widest range of situations without the need for special adaptation or design.” Most Inclusive Design papers view the issue from making commercial products available to those with impairments however these do not address the issue of making special needs products suitable for those that may not require them but still have to live with them. With the increasing application of inclusive design the special needs market will narrow but not all products will meet specialist requirements, and as such, there will still be a market for special needs products, but these must be ‘inclusive’ of as many people as possible. It is important to understand that special needs products are not only used by those with disabilities. They often replace key products in the home to make coping with day-to-day tasks simpler, but also may have to be used by all other members of the household