1
Disability Inclusion Benefits Everyone

How many times a day do you ask Siri or Alexa to look something up for you? Send a text? How about asking it to play music? If you're like me, it's multiple times a day. The convenience of hands-free technology has exponentially made my life easier. Ever use a cart at the grocery store or at the airport? Curb cuts indeed make lugging those things around more maneuverable. They also help parents with strollers and kids and adults on bikes and scooters. Many of the things we use to simplify or quicken daily tasks were initially designed for disability access. Our complex and busy lives become more manageable and enjoyable when they are designed for all cases. Disability Inclusion benefits everyone.

I am a person who wears four artificial limbs, as I was born without most of my arms and legs. I've used prostheses since I was two years of age and my only childhood recollection is putting on my prostheses in the morning and wanting to get them off as quickly as possible in the evening! I definitely needed them to function as independently as possible.

When you think of physical spaces, what do you notice? I look for a combination of aesthetics and functionality. I want to feel welcomed, that I belong there. Whether I'm going someplace with a clear purpose in mind or wandering for leisure, I hope to enjoy the experience. Beyond the aesthetics, one key element I hope for is ease of use. How easy is it for me to do what I wanted to do? Do I feel comfortable and safe? How navigable is the space, meaning, how easy is it for me to find my way around? If architects designed the area well, I'll likely enjoy myself, and many others will, too.

John Stuart Mill's ethical philosophy declaration on Utilitarianism states:

Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.

-Mill [1863] 2017

Mill had a strong starting point but lost me when he argued that the majority rule would guarantee overall social success. As we witness the present day and look to the future, should we not ask ourselves how to include everyone? Nobody should be left behind if we genuinely believe in equity. So, how can we do that?

For one, if we plan to build structures with the most human factors in mind, it is likely they will be usable by most people in most scenarios. In other words, accessibility design and Disability Inclusion can benefit everyone because it reminds us to consider circumstances outside the median range of practical use and a broader view of human function. Logically, universal design, inclusive design, and accessibility principles make spaces, products, and services more functional and enjoyable for a significant percentage of people and less likely to be exclusionary.

As its name implies, universal design is for everyone. It was a good friend of mine, Ron Mace, now deceased, who founded the National Center of Barrier-Free Design at North Carolina State University, and created the concept of universal design founded on seven basic principles. These are:

1. Equitable Use
2. Flexibility in Use
3. Simple and Intuitive Use
4. Perceptible Information
5. Tolerance for Error
6. Low Physical Effort
7. Size and Space for Approach and Use

The purpose behind these guiding principles is that people of any ability should have identical or nearly equivalent operability and ease of use (Mace, Connell, Jones, et al. 1997; NDA 2020). If things are easy to use and functional for everyone, fewer problems arise. That's because when people can go about their day in the way that best fits their needs, our citizenry are generally more productive and happier.

Let's start with equitable use. A building, product, or website should be appealing and functional for all. The experience should be equally pleasant. When we consider dimensional space and manageable design aesthetics, people can do what they need and do it comfortably. The second principle, flexibility in use, expands on this idea by giving people options to use something. Preferential use such as left- or right-handedness is one example. Adjustment to a user's pace is another.

And the third, simple and intuitive use, makes the design easy to comprehend, regardless of the person's skill set. It should be consistent, clear, and manageable (Mace, Connell, Jones, et al. 1997; NDA 2020). These first three principles are beneficial for all people because they acknowledge that users are diverse. They may have different levels of technical or mechanical experience. They may need settings set at certain levels and consistently to complete tasks. They may speak or read other languages or have different reading levels.

Principles four, five, six, and seven are more targeted for variance in physicality. Perceptible information must be provided in several modalities, ranging from aural or visual to tactile. Tolerance for error allows users to get positive outcomes even when they make mistakes or misunderstand, provide safety of use, and warn users of hazards. Accidents happen, and people shouldn't have to suffer for them. The final two principles, low physical effort and size and space for approach and use, are probably the most recognizable. They are how most people understand the Americans with Disabilities Act. These principles guarantee that elements are accessible regardless of mobility, physical strength, height, posture, and endurance. These round out the experience by minimizing frustrating, repetitive gestures or commands, placing objects or buttons in comfortable locations, and allowing room for or pairing with accessible technologies (Mace, Connell, Jones, et al. 1997; NDA 2020).

There are other benefits beyond the physical and mental benefits for ease of use. Emotionally, we all feel and do our best when acknowledged, respected, and included. In the workplace, people with disabilities bring in a vast market of talent, innovation, and engagement. The potential of this untapped resource is invigorating for creative vision. That's something to look forward to as we seek to engage the public. On a more fundamental level, Disability Inclusion provides an opportunity to update workplace practices. Invigorating a workspace with disability diversity enriches corporate culture.

People with disabilities are not only a large consumer market. They are also a large pool of talent that's terribly underutilized. Everyone benefits from the experiences of people with disabilities. You may learn that people with disabilities find novel approaches to problem solving because of daily practice adapting to other people and the environment. Diversity can lead others to adopt and encourage honesty in expression, foster openness in experimentation, and explore unconventional and exciting ideas. Fresh perspectives and behaviors are highly beneficial for collective workspace and community creativity.

Hannah Barham-Brown explained the complexity and importance of Disability Inclusion in the workforce in her 2019 TED Talk "Disability and Work: Let's Stop Wasting Talent." After telling her personal story about being a doctor living with a disability, she emphasized that Disability Inclusion is more important than ticking boxes on the diversity checklist. Rather than viewing diversity hires as hitting a symbolic goal, though a "safeguard" for the disability community, the focus needs to be on the richness of the disability lived experience. She told her audience:

Every job advert you see will say that a company is looking for problem solvers, people who think outside the box, great "team workers." Well, we are nature's problem solvers because we live in a world that was designed without us in mind. (Barham-Brown 2019)

She emphasized that because of the survival need to adapt, many people with disabilities are good with team interaction; we learn to communicate our needs and assess roles best suited for peers. She continues, "What we have to bring is exciting, is under-recognized, and woefully underutilized. We do so much more than tick a diversity box" (Barham-Brown 2019).

What potential is unleashed when we move beyond disability survival? People with disabilities already have developed skill sets that set us apart from peers and highlight our value, and that is while trying to survive in difficult, inaccessible settings. When we remove barriers, potential becomes actualized.

Statistics echo Barham-Brown's sentiment about underutilized talent. The CDC (2020) estimates that about 61 million people in the United States and more than a billion worldwide are living with a disability. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022) released data highlighting that "[a]cross all age groups, persons with disabilities were much less likely to be employed than those with no disabilities," and that in 2020, "the unemployment rate for persons with a disability increased 5.3% points from the previous year." There is much potential in this talent pool now that is underrepresented and often excluded altogether. When people are employed, they revitalize the economy. They also strengthen the workforce. Ideally, employment helps expand and nurture neighborhood development both residentially and commercially and, when people put efforts into diversity and inclusion, it enriches...