This documentary film and research project reexamines the experience of disability in America, and shines a light on the stories of those all too often left behind. Watch the documentary below and read the full research report.
Opportunities for learning through IHCD include a Lunch & Learn series, trainings, workshops and events. Internship and fellowship opportunities are also available all-year-round.
Our scope for consulting includes, among others, plan reviews, assessment of accessibility in the built environment and testing of digital and web accessibility.
IHCD works with entrepreneurs, designers and businesses to evaluate concepts, prototypes or existing designs to assess usability for the widest possible spectrum of people.
IHCD has an established database of user/experts, chosen for each opportunity to find the best match between the person and the project.
Inclusive design is design that works for the widest sepctrum of users without the need for specialized adaptation, It centers around the user experience with a focus on social sustainability. IHCD uses the World Health Organization’s Definition of Disability as the foundation for our consulting and research work in the field and in our user/expert lab. We believe that good design must work not only for as many users as possible, but also enhance everyone’s experience.
What is the right balance between mandates of accessible design standards and the aspirations for fully inclusive environments?
The answer still is evolving and maybe always will be but there have been a lot of lessons learned over the past 30 years. While the necessity of minimum…
Some people are excluded from the simplest and most basic everyday experiences. Why?
This is because the act of designing has given insufficient consideration to their level of physical ability or cognitive difference or cultural background or economic circumstance. Over the past 30…
We need your help! Please fill out this survey to help us build a vocabulary, assemble concepts, imagine environments, and define the essence of a museum that will give everyone an enveloping sense of inclusion and welcome. Survey results will appear in an article on the topic in the June 2022…
A user/expert is a person who has developed expertise by means of their lived experience in dealing with the challenges of the environment due to a physical, sensory or cognitive functional limitation. IHCD has an established database of user/experts who range from adolescents to people in their ‘80s. Participants help review the usability and accessibility of physical environments as well as products, services and new technologies.
IHCD is home to the New England ADA Center; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a comprehensive federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in all aspects of life on the basis of disability. There are five Titles within the ADA that outline rights and responsibilities of employers, state and local government, businesses and non-profits, architects and designers and individuals and advocates, and IHCD strives to help customers reach standards set by these titles.
We are committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages, abilities and cultures through excellence in design.
IHCD has built a large family of friends and allies over 30 years, and we are proud to say that this inner circle is characterized by both longevity of commitment and an appetite for the next frontier.
IHCD is located at 200 Portland Street, Boston, MA 02114.
Visit the directions page for more detailed directions.
Telephone:
1 (617) 695-1225 (v/tty)
Fax: 1 (617) 482-8099
Email: info@IHCDesign.org
