What is Universal or Inclusive Design?

At the most bare bones level Universal Design is expressed as a set of seven principles guiding the following definition. Inclusive Design is an alternate formulation emphasizing that Universal Design must be aware of social and ecoonomic difference and include the participation of users throughout the design process:

Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind.

Universal Design is also called Inclusive Design, Design-for-All and Lifespan Design. It is not a design style but an orientation to any design process that starts with a responsibility to the experience of the user. It has a parallel in the green design movement that also offers a framework for design problem solving based on the core value of environmental responsibility. Universal Design and green design are comfortably two sides of the same coin but at different evolutionary stages. Green design focuses on environmental sustainability, Universal Design on social sustainability.

It is important to note the assumption that various terms - Universal, Inclusive, Design-for-All - generally have been considered synonyms. There is an increasing dialogue that questions whether "Inclusive" and "Universal" are synonymous or different. The UN's Ad Hoc Committee developing a new Convention on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities is currently grappling with choosing one or the other. The primary differentiation that is evolving has to do with "Inclusive" being interpreted to be broader, to embrace diversity in social and economic circumstances in addition to variation in age and ability.

Source: http://www.adaptenv.org/index.php?option=Content&Itemid=3