UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES

The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

The authors, a working group of architects, product designers, engineers and environmental design researchers, collaborated to establish the following Principles of Universal Design to guide a wide range of design disciplines including environments, products, and communications. These seven principles may be applied to evaluate existing designs, guide the design process and educate both designers and consumers about the characteristics of more usable products and environments.

EQUITABLE USE

The design should be manageable and interesting for all users and not exclude any users. It
should present equal facilities for everyone. For this principle, disabled people, old people, children, pregnants and women with children are to be thought primarily. For example, as very current accesses, many overpasses in Ankara have no elevators or staircases like the overpass at the entrance of METU or the subway exits at Sıhhiye in front of the Abdi İpekçi Park. Moreover, like many others, the portable toilets which are necessary with no doubt have no special toilet cabins for disabled people.

FLEXIBILITY IN USE

The design should include and enable different personal preferences. The design should not let users to make mistake and users having different abilities should be thought. In Kubilay Park and Adnan Kahveci Park, there are not separated roads for different usages such as race track, bicycle lane or walkway.

SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE USE

No matter what the users' levels of information, language, experience or concentration are, The design should be used easily and intuitively. For instance, doors are generally opened inwards and people try to open doors inwards intuitively. But entrance doors should open outwards in case of emergency. So there should be a sign showing to push or pull.

PERCEPTIBLE INFORMATION

The design should present essential information effectively without considering users' perception and environmental conditions. The specialities of the design should be perceived easily by users. The Gökkuşağı settled at the center of the Eskişehir Road is a very unsatisfied example in terms of this principle. The purpose of the design or the usage of it cannot understood under no circumstances.

TOLERANCE FOR ERROR

The design should minimize the possible dangerous mistakes that may emerge from accidents or
unwanted attitudes. The most current elements of the design should be accessible easily while the ones that may cause dangerous are hidden. The car parking area of METU library is a very weak in terms of this principle obviously. After occuring car accidents, some metal barriers made in the middle of the road, but this again caused car accidents in different positions.

LOW PHYSICAL EFFORT

The design should be used easily not requiring much physical effort. The user should not force its normal capacity and use his/her power constantly. The design should not demand repetitive power use of the user. For example, in Ankara Castle, the angle of the slopes are too much for people to walk on or in Panora shopping center, the staircases are too far away from each other.

SIZE AND SPACE FOR APPROACH AND USE

The necessary size and space should be provided separately from the body scale, position and movement of the user. All usage elements should be accessible from standing or sitting positions. In most elevators made for six or more people, the necessary space is not provided. Additionally, again most of the pedestrian roads are not suitable for even two people to walk on it at the same time. Some public vehicles are not suitable to stand during travelling although they are made for both sitting and standing transportation.