Symposium and Workshop

2013 Symposium and Workshop

April 11 through April 13
San Francisco State University

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Post-Symposium & Workshop REVIEW:

Thursday, April 11th, 2013, 7:00 – 9:00 PM, SFSU J. Paul Leonard Library LIB 121 (Reception, 5:30-6:30 PM) The SYMPOSIUM was a FREE public event that included keynote addresses and panel discussions from leading design professionals, disability advocates, agencies and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The Symposium featured a Keynote address from Ms. Elaine Ostroff, Founder and Founder of the Institute for Human Centered Design in Boston and Director of the Access to Design Professions Program which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Office of Accessibility.

Symposium Participants, Keynote Speakers and Panelists

• Elaine Ostroff – Institute for Human Centered Design
• Patricia Moore – MooreDesign Associates
• Susan Goltsman – FASLA, Principal, President of MIG
• Chris Downey – Architect, Architecture for the Blind
• Catherine J. Kudlick – Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability
• Ralf Hotchkiss – Whirlwind Wheelchair International
• Dmitri Belser – Center for Accessible Technology + Ed Roberts Campus
• Erick Mikiten – Mikiten Architecture

Friday, April 12th, 2013, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, SFSU J. Paul Leonard Library LIB 121. The WORKSHOP was structured as an Inclusive Design Charrette, involving a diverse team of design professionals; facilitators; faculty and students. The Workshop included hands on Inclusive Design Thinking presentations, activities and exercises for the student participants, based on the principles of universal design. Students with disabilities had the opportunity to work directly with local designers and design students, including current and former design students with disabilities. The workshop theme focused upon an Inclusive Design Overview and Assessment of the newly renovated University Library and the University Quad/Student Center Environmental Landscape.

Workshop Program Schedule:
I): MORNING Session (9:00 – 12:00 PM) addressed accessible interior environments and work/study spaces in the newly renovated University Library in regards to Inclusive & Accessible Information Design Signage and Wayfinding Applications.

II): DESIGN LUNCHEON SESSION (12:00 – 2:00 PM)

III): AFTERNOON Session (2:00 – 5:00 PM) addressed exterior environments and leisure study and recreational spaces in regards to designing a Table/Bench Design unit for the University Quad/Student Center Environmental Landscape area.

Saturday: April 13th — “SNEAK PREVIEW” 9:30 – 11:30 AM Jack Adams Hall, Chavez Student Center & 12:30 PM, DAI Department, Fine Arts Bldg, FA 151 Graduate Studio Space
• Design Charrette “Community” Presentation & Showcase
• Learn about Design Majors and Degree Programs
• Design Education & Career Path Evaluation

Architectural rendering of J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State University.

Design at SF State

The objectives of the Access to Design Professions Program (ADP) in post-secondary schools is to support the recruitment of people with disabilities into careers in design. The current new ADP projects for the AY 2012-2013 invited a wider audience that included other design professions as well as architecture. They include landscape, interiors, industrial design, graphic design, web design, textile design, information design, CAD, drafting, etc. The projects focus on one or more of the following goals:

• Teach people with disabilities about careers in design.
• Recruit students with disabilities into post-secondary design education programs.
• Develop professional interaction and understanding among design professors, disability services staff, career counselors, vocational rehab counselors and high school guidance counselors.

Design Majors

• Apparel Design and Merchandising – Bachelor of Science
• Industrial Arts – Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Minor
• Industrial Design – Bachelor of Science
• Interior Design – Bachelor of Science
• Visual Communication Design – Bachelor of Science

Sponsors

Access to Design Professions is a leadership initiative funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with the goal to increase and support the participation of people with disabilities in the design professions.

View full video playlist for 2013 ADP

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Opening Welcome by Jo Volkert, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, SFSU

2013 Access to Design Professions Symposium

April 11, 2013

View full video playlist for 2013 ADP

Catherine Kudlick, Director of Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and Professor of History

2013 Access to Design Professions Symposium

April 11, 2013

View full video playlist for 2013 ADP

Keynote Address by Elaine Ostroff – Part 1

2013 Access to Design Professions Symposium

April 11, 2013

“The environment can either include or exclude us, we can be disabled or empowered by design.” ~ by Elaine Ostroff

View full video playlist for 2013 ADP

Human Centered Design: Pt2- The Create Phase

Ed-Tech India

This is part 2 of a three-part series on how we applied IDEO‘s Human Centered Design tools to our Ed-Tech report. You can check out part 1 about the Hear Phase here.

After all the interviews, conversations, and observations that were made in the Hear Phase of the study, we were charged with the task of making sense of what all of it meant. This brings us to the Create phase of the work. The Create phase is all about taking everything that researchers and designers have “Heard” from their users, and using that information to build solutions that will help solve the design problem. In terms of our paper, it helped us form the building blocks of the finished product.

Making sense of data doesn’t just occur at the very end of the Hear phase. Synthesis and analysis is something that happens in several ways throughout the…

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Digital Inclusion Approaches: The Bigger Picture.

Service Delivery Scenarios

I recently interviewed John Popham, about his views on the UK digital exclusion landscape as part of my research. Hearing about John’s experiences provided me with valuable insights into the ‘bigger picture’ of digital exclusion and the common themes, problems and approaches to digital inclusion strategies.

John has been involved in community development through social media throughout his career. He has also worked on a number of  projects specifically for digital inclusion, such as the recent Digital Planet initiative, which toured the UK in 2012. What was particularly valuable about hearing his experience, is that as an independent stakeholder in the digital exclusion landscape, he sees potential for different approaches to digital exclusion services, when compared to the UK governments own assistive-digital service approaches that are currently in the progress of being developed.

These are the key points that emerged from our discussion:

1. Digital services are a positive step…

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Bag Pattern transition

Vivian'S Design Journey

Due to that fact that the shopping bag itself is too deep for senior user to reach to the bottom, the bag pattern change to shorter the depth and expend on both side for bigger storage spaces.

There are two different pattern been design and developed further.

One keeps the original sharpness form but changing the depth and width.

  basic pattern 1

The other pattern I decide to bring some curve stitch structure that shown as an surface texture for the bag.

 style 2

 stitch detail

The new structure works pretty well,  the stitch curve actually matches the Frame design.  Further design will try to simplified the pattern by connect the top compartment with bottom part for a clean form.

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Apple’s revolutionary iPhones help blind navigate a sightless world

More than skin covers | Skinthemoon

“When visually impaired people gush over iPhones, they swear they aren’t just following the sighted onto the Apple bandwagon. The device isn’t simply the trendy choice for them. It’s pretty much the only choice,” Ben Wolford reports for The South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Out of the package, there’s nothing you need to see and no setup necessary. Just turn it on. There are GPS apps to help navigate, count currency and detect color. Meanwhile, the iPhone is competing with Braille, and nonprofit workers in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere are offering classes on how to use it.”

“‘I’m not an Apple fanboy,’ said Eric Barrette, the technology specialist at the Lighthouse of Broward. Barrette, who is legally blind, teaches clients how to navigate all manner of technology,” Wolford reports. “Fanboy or not, Barrette is clear: ‘The iPhone is accessible pretty much out of the box, whereas the Android’ – the other…

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Disability Laws Are Not Just a U.S. Thing

Dr. Tyra's Risk Review

So many things have happened in the last couple of weeks, it’s hard to pick one to write about.  But today I think I’ll talk about accessibility and disability laws.  I find that some in the U.S. believe the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) law is unique.  Certainly it’s the law that pertains to the U.S., but there are other countries that have similar laws.

Rather than try to list other country’s laws (because I would surely miss some), check out this excellent site, Academic Network of European Disability Professionals.  This site has great “country profiles” on various European countries regarding disabilities.  The information is a little, uh, academic in nature (didn’t that sounds better than dry or boring as synonyms…I mean, adjectives?).  But to be fair, they warn us about this in the title of the organization.

I was also very encouraged to hear of a conference held…

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Google Launches Sign Language Interpreter App For Hangouts, Adds Accessibility Features To Gmail, Drive And Chrome