Universal Design and Adaptive Design

• Center for Universal Design, part of the School of Design at North Carolina State University, is a "national research, information and technical assistance center" in the field of universal design. This site provides extensive information on "What is Universal Design?" It also provides information about fair housing practices, home modifications and accessible and universal design features in homes. You can also view examples of new homes built using universal design principles. The site offers a number of online resources and publications and links to other organizations.
• IDEA – Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access. IDEA began its work based on the concepts of accessible or "barrier free" design and expanded to the concept of universal design. The center provides "resources and technical expertise in architecture, product design, facilities management and the social and behavioral sciences" with the goal of improving the design of places and products so that they are usable by "a broad range of people, including people with disabilities and other often overlooked groups."
• Universal Design in Housing. This article by Ronald L. Mace, F.A.I.A. on the Adaptive Environments web site provides a comprehensive overview of all the elements of universal design for accessible housing as well as some specific criteria.
• Informed Consumer's Guide to Accessible Housing. This article from ABLEDATA provides a good overview and introduction to "legal and practical aspects of accessible housing." There are also links to additional related resources.

• Resource Center on Accessible Housing and Universal Design. This page contains a listing of all of the resources relating to accessible housing and universal design that can be found at the ABLEDATA web site.
• Accessible Design Resource Page. This page is one topic on the web site of Disability Informational Resources. It has links to a number of online and print resources. This service and the web site makoa.org is maintained by Jim Lubin, a C2 quadraplegic. Makoa is the Hawaiian word for "courageous."