There is a polarity between universality and customization. Both goals are vital, and while sometimes held in tension, need to be approached as a “yes, and…”  Given the diversity in such factors as body types and range of mobility, when designing for accessibility a great deal of customization is necessary to optimize the experience of each individual user. It is estimated, for example, that 8 out of 10 wheelchairs do not meet the specific needs of their users.  But customization has historically had its own accessibility barriers, including added time and expense in manufacturing, the availability or proximity of design specialists, and the safety risks associated with ‘at home’ improvised customizations.

With the advance and convergence of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, in particular 5G networks, 3D printing, and parametric design (essentially AI-enabled next-gen computer-assisted design, or CAD), it is increasingly feasible to customize design solutions to individual users and to even prototype, test, and manufacture such designs closer to where the user resides.

Autonomous vehicles have the potential to provide new transportation options for people with disabilities. With fully autonomous vehicles, people with disabilities who may have previously been unable to drive could have newfound independence and mobility.  The significantly augmented configuration of the powerhouse and drivetrain of electric vehicles (EVs), relative to internal combustion-powered vehicles, means that designers can develop an exponentially greater range of customized automobile types.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) also hold promise.  As a report on AI and disability inclusion from Accenture notes, “AI, when developed and used responsibly and ethically—has the potential to facilitate the entire employment journey for persons with disabilities. It can help organizations identify candidates (and vice versa). It can enable engagement at work. And it can drive a culture of confidence in this underutilized segment of the workforce while supporting advancement within organizations.”^[1]  The report further notes that just over a third of C-Suite executives polled report that they have inclusive design principles in place to support “human + machine” collaboration, which is essential to the development of solutions that will work to expand human accessibility.

As crip futurists Laura Herman and Molly Bloom warn:^[2]

“AI can both usurp self-determination and heighten discrimination for disabled people… AI systems that embrace ‘crip futurity’ would embed disabled perspectives into algorithm design and development. Additionally, it is imperative that disabled people are represented within the datasets on which artificial technologies are trained. These datasets directly shape the learned habits and ultimate outcomes of these ever-evolving technologies; by controlling the data that they are served, we control the reality that this machine intelligence operates within and, thus, the future that they build. Crip futurity can ensure that this data-driven context is better representative of our soon-to-be inseparable reality.”

SPOTLIGHT: Disrupt Disability