Barriers to universal design and what to do about them

![CDATA[The term universal design was coined in the early 1980s to describe a way of designing that encompasses the broadest spectrum of the population regardless of age, ability level or background. Whilst there is general goodwill towards the idea of designing universally, the mass market housing industry in Australia is unwilling to implement changes to incorporate universal design principles. Risk management strategies are one reason. Another is the assumption that universally designed homes are someone else's business because it is specialised housing. A third reason is located in the housing delivery chain. This paper identifies the key factors posing barriers to the implementation of universal design, and presents a way of resolving the issues holistically rather than confronting the barriers individually.]]