Inclusive Design, the strategy to design for the wider range of users, as opposed to just fit, computer literate, young adults, originally revealed in Eureka’s May 2007 edition, was endorsed by Stephen Timms, MP at the official launch of the Inclusive Design Toolkit on July 12th 2007
Timms, Minister for Competitiveness in the recently renamed and redirected Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, formerly the DTI, not only praised the initiative, but spoke of the, “Move for all government services to be made inclusive” and specifically mentioned the Newham Advanced Telecare Project, “Enabling old people to remain in their homes” and the way technology has been used to improve the functionality and usefulness of job centres.
Sally Davis, who described herself as “The disability champion”, for sponsors BT, which commissioned the website, said, “This is something we take very seriously. This is not something to bolt on. It should be at the centre of our design thinking”. The argument was made at the launch at the annual New Designers event at the Business Design Centre in Islington that with so many of the UK’s 60 million population not falling into the category of being computer literate, totally fit, young adults, “It is normal to be different”, and that designers to need to design for everyone.
The website was developed by Sagentia, a lead member of the Centre of Inclusive Technology and Design, in conjunction with iDesign. It has taken three years to complete but may now be found at http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
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