We’ve all seen Braille labels ineptly screwed to walls as an afterthought, with no sensitivity to the overall environment. The irony is that this in itself undermines universal design. Anything so clunky that it is off-putting to anyone who has an alternative by default becomes a special-needs product—and a stigmatizing one at that. If the aspiration is truly universal design, Braille would become part of everyone’s experience, not just that of the people who read it. What if the decorative texture of Braille were designed with sighted people in mind as well, even if it remained illegible and abstract to them? Click to see our entire 101 series on Universal Design. Photo 2 of 7 in A Primer on Universal and Multigenerational Design by Olivia Martin

A Primer on Universal and Multigenerational Design

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We’ve all seen Braille labels ineptly screwed to walls as an afterthought, with no sensitivity to the overall environment. The irony is that this in itself undermines universal design. Anything so clunky that it is off-putting to anyone who has an alternative by default becomes a special-needs product—and a stigmatizing one at that. If the aspiration is truly universal design, Braille would become part of everyone’s experience, not just that of the people who read it. What if the decorative texture of Braille were designed with sighted people in mind as well, even if it remained illegible and abstract to them? Click to see our entire 101 series on Universal Design.