Human Factors Universal Design

Universal Design: Usability – Localization & Internationalization

Universal Design emerged from the International Standards and Organization and the Olympic movement in attempts to create “Design for All”. This may include “barrier-free” or “accessible design” combined with “assistive technology” (paraplegic, head – eye movement operated office), which offers “accessibility to all” under uniform standards or Universal Design. Universal Design refers to the design of information, communications systems, products and services that are usable for every global citizen. Not an easy task given the diversity or markets, cultures linguistics and historical communication practices. Up – down, right – left, simple complex, language translations 10 letters – 35 letters, are all real world universal product design challenges. The concept of universal design (“usable or accessible by all”) is closely related to the concepts of universal accessibility or the fore mentioned “barrier free” or “accessible design” and “design for all” or Universal Design.. These concepts altogether cover, from the user’s end to the manufacturer’s end, the important research areas of semantics, information and communications technology: user-interface, user access and product design.

Universal design strives to be a broad-spectrum solution that helps everyone, not just people with disabilities. Barrier free design and assistive technology provide a level of accessibility for people with disabilities. As populations rise and life expectancy increases, including the survival rate of those with significant alignments, workplace, automotive and military conflict injuries, including amputations and persons with debilitating illnesses and birth defects, combined with the decrease in resources, there is a growing need for universal design. Improved car safety features has saved many lives but it has also led to an increased disabled and wheelchair bound population. Universal design is necessary for global product producers as they attempt to satisfy and meet market demands for the largest market with the fewest number of product model configurations.

Universal design is a part of everyday living and is all around us. Examples including high color-contrast dishware with steep sides that assist those with visual problems as well as those with limb use and dexterity problems. Additional examples include cabinets with pull-out shelves, kitchen counters at several heights to accommodate different tasks and postures and low-floor public transit buses equipped with ramps rather than lifts. The principles of universal design and accessibility have led to government laws and design standards. The global Olympics have been a driving force in universal design achievements.

Principles of Universal Design
Principles of Universal Design encompass a wide range of design disciplines including environments, products, and communications. These principles are broader than that of accessible design.

Equitable use (cross cultural, unisex)
Flexibility in use (adjustability)
Simple logical and intuitive
Perceptible information
Tolerance for error
Minimal physical effort
Size and space for approach and use

The International Standards Organization (ISO), defines usability as: a set of attributes that bear on the effort needed for use and on the individual assessment of such use, by a stated or implied set of users or the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use. An important concept in the user – product interface or user centered design is internationalization and localization or the means of adapting product for exogenous, non-native environments, specifically other regions, nations and cultures. Internationalization is the process of ensuring that an application is capable of adapting to local requirements. Localization is the process of adapting the user product interface product system to a specific target user group, by displaying native language and accepted symbols, using general local conventions for the display of such things as units of measurement.

The distinction between internationalization and localization is important. Internationalization is the adaptation of products for potential use virtually anywhere, while localization is the addition of special features for use in a specific region or location or target market. The processes are complementary and must be both considered to develop a product system that works globally – universal design. Subjects unique to localization include:

Language translation,
National varieties of languages (localization)
Special support for certain languages such as East Asian languages
Local customs,
Local content
Symbols
Order of sorting
Aesthetics
Cultural values and social context
Focus of internationalization and localization efforts include:

Language
Computer-encoded text
Alphabets/scripts; different systems of numerals; left-to-right script vs. right-to-left scripts. Most recent systems use the Unicode standard to solve many of these character encoding problems.
Spelling variants for different countries where the same language is spoken, i.e. localization (American English) vs. localization (British English)
Graphical representations of text (printed materials, online images containing text) – Left or Right orientation
Spoken (Audio)
Subtitling (video)
Date/time format, including use of different calendars
Formatting of numbers (decimal points, positioning of separators, character used as separator)
Time zones (UTC in internationalized environments)
Currency
Images and colors: issues of comprehensibility and cultural appropriateness
Names and titles
Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes
Weights and measures
Paper sizes
Any other aspect of the product or service that is subject to regulatory compliance
Principles of Universal Design (from the Center for Universal Design)
Principles of Universal Design encompass a wide range of design disciplines including environments, products, and communications. These principles are broader than that of accessible design.

Equitable use (cross cultural, unisex)
Flexibility in use (adjustability)
Simple logical and intuitive
Perceptible information
Tolerance for error
Minimal physical effort
Size and space for approach and use
Examples:
Smooth ground surfaces of entranceways, without stairs
Wide interior doors and hallways (wheelchair accessible)
Lever handles for opening doors rather than twisting knobs
Illuminated light switches with large flat panels rather than small toggle switches
Buttons on control panels that can be distinguished by touch (Braille)
Bright and appropriate lighting, particularly task lighting
Auditory output redundant with information on visual displays
Visual output redundant with information in auditory output
Contrast of shapes of controls – visual contrast outputs
Use of meaningful icons – with optional text labels
Clear lines of sight (to reduce dependence on sound)
Volume controls on auditory output
Speed controls on auditory output
Choice of language on speech output
Ramp access in swimming pools
Closed captioning on television networks

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