Access by Design

"Our individual disability becomes a handicap only when we encounter a barrier."
? George Covington, Co-author

"Why not consider designing for your lifetime, not just your primetime?"
? Jane Langmiur, Architect

"Universal design is good design because it is design for the user and not design for the designer."
? Marc Harrison, IDSA, Professor, Rhode Island School of Design

"The issue is not so much, ?what a great idea!,? as how did we get it wrong for so long?"
? Geoff Hollington, Universal Designer, Geoff Hollington Associates

"It?s a way of thinking; a new ingredient to design education and professional practice that can become a catalyst for invigorating our design sensibilities."
? Bill Palmer, Architect, Hellmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum, Inc.

"A designed object, product, building, or landscape earns the term Universal Design only if, in its final built state, it works properly in one form for everyone."
? Kevin Owens, Director of Product Development for Play/Designs & Playworld Systems

About the Authors George A. Covington is the former Special Assistant for Disability to the Vice President of the United States. Mr. Covington is an attorney and former journalism professor whose career has spanned the fields of law, journalism, education, government, and disability civil rights. He is Co-Chair of the Universal Design Task Force of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. Born legally blind with less than 10% normal vision, Mr. Covington first achieved national media attention for his work in using photography as a seeing tool. Bruce Hannah is an award-winning industrial designer with a concern for socially and environmentally responsible design. Mr. Hannah is a Professor of Art and Design at Pratt Institute. He received the Bronze Apple Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) for his role in developing the first conference on Universal Design. In addition, Mr. Hannah has won many awards for his designs, including the IDSA "Design of the Decade" award for the Knoll Desk System.