Institute for Design and Disability
Good
design enables, bad design disables
A non-profit-making
foundation contributing to the participation of people with disabilities
through design
Design is a pervasive factor
in the lives of people with disabilities.
It determines their immediate environment, the clothes they can wear,
the tools they can use, the work they can undertake, the buildings they can
enter and the forms of transport they can avail of. Deficiencies in industrial design and the built environment are
widespread and press heaviest on old people and people who are disabled in
various ways.
Until comparatively recently, the
tendency was to view people with physical and sensory disabilities as dependent
on others: today the emphasis is on designing environments and products that
help integrate people into the community and enable them to live
independently. People with disabilities
represent between ten and twenty per cent of the population, and recognition of
their needs is creating new challenges and opportunities for designers of all
kinds.
Variously referred to as universal
design, inclusive design, barrier-free design and design for all, this new
approach to design is directed towards the greatest number of users including:
people of all ages, mobile and wheelchair-users, right and left-handed, sighted
and blind people, the temporarily disabled and the permanently
incapacitated. Contact with the
consumer is essential, and it is clear that if designers, people with
disabilities, rehabilitation professionals and carers can be brought into a
coalition to address questions of design, spectacular advances can be made.
The aim of the Institute for Design and
Disability is to contribute to this coalition by providing a focus for design
effort and promoting interest and awareness of the need for higher standards of
design in favour of people with disabilities.
Since its establishment ten years ago,
the Institute’s membership have been involved in projects to raise standards of
design in products, transport and buildings.
Through its programme of educational initiatives, meetings and
campaigns, the Institute has helped raise awareness in Government and among the
general public of the need for more responsive design. It is the only national organisation
dedicated to design and disability and is recognised in internationally as the
representative Irish body in this area.
Constitution
The Institute was established in
1991 as a non-profit-making charitable foundation. Its purpose is to contribute to the participation of people with
disabilities through the application of design.
Objectives
The objectives of the Institute are to:
1. Promote interest in design as a response to disability,
2. Undertake studies of the relationship between
design and disability,
3. Develop design solutions to meet identified needs.
Membership
Membership of the Institute is open to individuals and
comprises designers, people with disabilities, rehabilitation scientists and
other professionals who participate actively in the work of the organisation,
and others who support its objectives and activities. There is an annual subscription and persons wishing to become
members apply to the Honorary Secretary.
Management
The Institute is managed by a board of directors
elected annually by the membership.
Activities
The Institute pursues its objectives through an annual
programme of professional and promotional activities.
Under its Constitution, the Institute may:
- Carry out
studies and research into various aspects of design and disability;
- Organise
national and international meetings for designers and other professionals
to share experiences and raise overall design standards;
- Sponsor without-profit
design competitions and award schemes and publicise the results;
- Organise
exhibitions and publish and distribute information and other material
concerned with design for people with disabilities
- Conduct
seminars and courses for designers and design students engaged in the
field of design for disability.
Co-operation with other
bodies
The Institute works closely with statutory, voluntary
and professional bodies to achieve its objectives. It maintains close links with the Institute of Designers in
Ireland and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and co-operates
with the National Disability Authority, the Forum of People with Disabilities,
People with Disabilities in Ireland, the Centre for Independent Living and the
Equality Authority.
International relations
The Institute is the Irish member
organisation of the European Institute for Design and Disability (EIDD). Through the EIDD, it has liaison
arrangements with the European Parliament and Commission, the European
Disability Forum, and sister organisations in 15 countries. The Institute is responsible for the
promotion in Ireland of the Barcelona Declaration, the principal
European Convention on accessibility.
Finance
As a non-profit-making charity, the Institute is
dependent on the subscriptions of its members, grants, sponsorship and revenue
from its activities. Donations and
bequests are welcome and qualify for tax relief.
Further information and
membership application forms from:
Honorary Secretary
Institute for Design and Disability
National College of Art and Design
100 Thomas Street
Dublin 8
Telephone +353 1 6364383
Facsimile +353 1 6364384
Email secretary@idd.ie
Website www.idd.ie
Recognised
as a charity by the Revenue Commissioners, No. CHY 10515