Proceedings of: Workshop on Improving Building Design for Persons with Low Vision

Issue 19: What Principles of Universal Design can be applied in the short term for persons with low vision?

Comment and Question by [Participant]: I have a question for Roberta. You really did a neat job on those kitchens – and in looking at the colors, I mean, it looks like it’s the 1980s. But now, are you just – is there a set of guidelines written down somewhere that, you know, when someone comes in and they say, yeah, I have trouble in the kitchen, they say, well, you know, if you really want to stay in your house, you might have to spend a few bucks.

But here’s a set of guidelines that you can take to your builder, remodel your kitchen so that it’s safer, accessible, blah, blah, blah, you know? You could figure out, well, that will cost me $10,000. Well, if you have to go to assisted living, it could cost you a hell of a lot more than that.

Response by Roberta Null: The National Kitchen & Bath Association does have guidelines and they’re good. And they change them and you know, they keep updating them and things like that. But it just should be universally done because no one should have to stand on their head to find what’s in the bottom of the base cabinets.

You know, that’s for everybody. And I don’t know if you’ve seen that refrigerator ad – it’s just wonderful – the little guy that can’t reach? And so they add this drawer, you know, to his Samsung, or whatever refrigerator it is. And he says, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone designed for everybody?

Comment by [Participant]: I would have said it on our website, on senior’s site, we have some tips for kitchens and bathrooms and all that – what people can do to just, you know –

Comment by [Participant]: There are universal designs for kitchens where the cabinetwork is actually – it can be raised and lowered, depending on –

Response by [Participant]: Oh, absolutely. That’s for the guy that was in a car accident and made a million dollars and, you know, had his kitchen completely redone. And in fact, they have a couple of these kitchens that are CGI. Yeah, and somebody that was at grad school there said that the one thing they always had problems with was the range that went up and down.

Response by [second Participant]: Yeah, that’s right.

Response by Marsha Mazz: There are drinking fountains that go up and down and nobody likes them and they’re no longer manufactured.

Response by Roberta Null: I really think a lot of this is education, you know, that you have to – with universal design, you have to show good examples and then you have to tell why they are good examples.

When I was in San Diego, we went to the Mariposa low-vision center. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that, but they’d just redone it. And everything was mauve. I mean, the chairs were the same color as the carpet; the walls were the same color. I mean, it was just like going into a monochromatic cave. I thought, this is the low-vision center? It was really alerting to me.