https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/home daily 1.0 2021-07-13 https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/about daily 0.75 2025-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1c24d255-3444-4dba-a415-28d211eb042d/Alexa+Vaughn_01.jpg About - Make it stand out Image description: A photo of Alexa in her studio at the American Academy in Rome. She is a predominantly white woman with long brown hair and visible tattoos on her left arm. She wears a black jumpsuit, bright orange heeled sandals, and gold earrings. She sits half-perched on the handle of a step stool and smiles at the camera with mouth closed. Pinned up behind her are some of her projects, including votives of ears and images of public spaces in Rome sketched over in cyan blue. (Photo by Daniele Molajoli). https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/contact daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/resources daily 0.75 2025-08-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623010545225-A0ULV9KLSG0YXB65A0GY/DeafScape+Graphic_AV.png Resources The DeafScape streetscape graphic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1dd098f8-4b24-4ef0-b20e-721aae630be8/Screen+Shot+2025-08-06+at+3.12.38+PM.png Resources A photo of a group conducting an accessibility audit with Alexa and Karen Braitmayer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/4494d19a-1f24-4b94-83c2-c2173a091fac/GU10_IG-Preview_IG%2Bsquare%2Bcopy%2B11.jpg Resources An image from the Insensitivity of Sensitivity Studies, a silhouette of a person in profile, blindfolded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/7ed72dae-4044-4c4f-a99a-0dd77080f638/Screen+Shot+2025-08-06+at+3.19.07+PM.png Resources White and gray vector graphics of a flashing fire alarm, assistive listening device, and TTY. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623011020927-DGSY2CFPGG6ENRJPCMF2/case+study.PNG Resources A screenshot from the Landscape Performance Series article. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623010765444-DWJU3LWRBLZ0W8FIGVS5/every+body+-+lifchez.jpg Resources A protest image from Berkeley in the 1970s, taken by Ray Lifchez. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623011643649-N6B10E8CZCU497L8IW04/curbed.PNG Resources A screenshot of Curbed online, with a cyclist and streetscape. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623011803791-XHNUCNSO2QUPUGLNI6O0/street.PNG Resources An image of Bell Street Park in Seattle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623012113147-EVZ931X5BQ8W2WNU7VEX/building+access.PNG Resources The cover of Building Access, a white background with illustrations of disabled bodies in guidelines with a blue titleblock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623011970755-KVUFF2YQA49BMQFAYCKD/crip+camp.PNG Resources A screenshot of Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623012337863-32TT63WPR5JQESJCS2JT/extra+bold.PNG Resources The cover of Extra Bold, in a bold font with reddish orange, pink, and yellow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623012488488-A90RL8ABH5YDPBW4RIJJ/disability+visibility.PNG Resources Disability Visibility, the book, standing up on a colorful background of pink, blue, and purple to match the cover design. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623012689446-ZFHZXIHU65OCDQJFUPLG/heumann.PNG Resources The cover of Being Heumann, featuring a black and white photo of Judy Heumann. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623013836693-QC1FWIY7YD6KX2ZPZLX7/asla+ud+guide.PNG Resources A screenshot from the ASLA UD Guide, featuring Tongva Park in Los Angeles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623732254583-UX3FCX07MH1QNVX8Z9GT/haben.PNG Resources The cover of Haben’s book, with Haben in profile and a red background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623732878743-82DSM4LRZV3L95URTWGN/ace.PNG Resources An image from Staircases in Space, with a wheelchair user in the middle of a labyrinth of staircases. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623733064591-2IE60I575NV61JJSZBEG/guffey.PNG Resources The cover of Designing Disability, featuring an image of the International Symbol of Accessibility on pavement. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/a2d7bebf-9291-437c-bd20-aa8a4ba1272c/land+manager+toolkit.PNG Resources The cover of the Accessibility Toolkit, featuring a diverse array of hikers and rocks in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/b1854b62-a2aa-4334-a755-0fdbf72d9fa7/phys+disability+in+the+outdoors.PNG Resources The cover of the Social Media Toolkit. Text reads: (Physical) Disability in the Outdoors. Addressing Inclusion on Public Lands by Thinking Creatively & Using an Equity Lens to Design & Maintain with Experience as a Priority.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/e19f7c2f-c432-48ac-a33d-2d7d516049eb/DFAND.jpg Resources An image of David Byrne in an open cube used for a flyer highlighting one of Danielle’s presentations on Design for Autism and Neurodiversity. https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/language daily 0.75 2025-08-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/966d1d1d-bf91-4294-9357-bcaeb4566476/social+vs+medical+model.jpg How to Talk To & About Disabled People - Make it stand out Image description: A simple black and white diagram graphic, illustrating the medical model vs. the social model. To the left is the medical model, it is illustrated with a black circle with white text within that reads “the person is the problem;” four arrows face towards the circle. This emphasizes that the medical model treats individually-held disabilities as issues to be solved. To the right is the social model, it is illustrated with a black circle with white text within that reads “the built environment is the problem;” four arrows face outwards away from the circle. This emphasizes that the social model treats the built environment as an external issue to be solved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/8695d728-88ee-4188-9da5-f4a679d4402c/spectrum.jpg How to Talk To & About Disabled People Image Description: A black and white diagram graphic, with black and white vector symbols representing physical disability, deaf and blindness, and neurocognitive disabilities, illustrating disability as a spectrum. Underneath the symbol of the wheelchair for physical disabilities reads a list: paraplegia, quadriplegia, spinal cord injury, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, dwarfism, amputees, ehlers danlos syndrome, diabetes, & more. Underneath the sensory symbols of crossed out ear and crossed out eye read: deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, blind, low vision, deafblind, anosmia, aguesmia, & more. To the right, under the neurocognitive symbol of silhouette of a head with question marks inside read: autism, a.d.d., a.d.h.d., dyslexia, down syndrome, dementia, alzheimers, learning disabilities, psychological disabilities, & more. (This list is not a complete list). https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/design-beyond-ada daily 0.75 2025-08-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623729788335-FU2S9OV1X771RERP5HXX/ADA+standards.jpg How to Design Beyond the ADA - Make it stand out Image Description: Two black and white graphics with minimal shading from the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010) side by side. The left is Figure 308.3.1: Unobstructed Side Reach, with a person in a wheelchair illustrating a 15’ min height off the ground and 48” max height for unobstructed side reach. The right is Figure 307.2: Limits of Protruding Objects, which illustrates a Blind person using a tactile cane and a 4” max protrusion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/87a54dba-e046-4c91-8ed0-4b1c9b59f2b8/design+method.jpg How to Design Beyond the ADA - Make it stand out Image Description: A diagram for designing with disabled people, a series of four black circles with white text within. Each has a bright pink magenta dashed bracket above and a text label. The left circle reads: ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Above it is the pink dashed bracket, and is labeled: law. Below the circle is a bright pink arrow pointing upwards to the circle, and text below it reads: quantitative bare minimum. The second circle reads: Universal Design Principles. Above it is the pink dashed bracket, and is labeled: creative tool. The third circle reads: disabled stakeholder feedback, and the fourth circle reads: disabled expert feedback. These two circles share a pink dashed bracket, and it is labeled: participation. Below these two circles is a bright pink arrow pointing upwards to the space between the two circles, and text below it reads: qualitative control. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/17780774-c07b-4fab-b604-12133c8f9a48/design+method2.jpg How to Design Beyond the ADA - Make it stand out Image description: The same diagram as above, this time with the example of an accessible public pathway. In the first circle, the text now reads: Section 403.5.1: Clear Width [36”]. The second circle reads: 7. Size & space for approach & use. The third circle reads: minimum of 10 feet needed. The fourth circle reads: minimum of 15 feet desired. Brackets and arrow text remain the same as the previous slide. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/8d1afb66-ed60-48e2-a3aa-9becabd3a686/design+method3.jpg How to Design Beyond the ADA https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/2995b176-c564-48e5-9af0-0cef16910939/design+method4.jpg How to Design Beyond the ADA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/ca8aa77d-8ea2-4943-b68a-f6dac4662d0b/designmethod5.jpg How to Design Beyond the ADA - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/disabled-design-process daily 0.75 2025-08-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/17a965f1-2635-4db7-8d1c-bc85e8eb3187/process.jpg How to Include Disabled People in the Design Process - Make it stand out Image description: A diagram of a typical design process, with a series of black circles with white text, along a line with an arrow to the right. Starting at left, the text in the circle reads: pre-design inventory & analysis. The second reads: schematic design. The third reads: design development. The fourth reads: construction documentation. The fifth reads: construction administration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/352ae174-39df-45a2-b0a9-74f1e17b23be/process+2.jpg How to Include Disabled People in the Design Process - Make it stand out Image Description: A diagram of the design process, with disabled people. The same series of black circles with white text, this time with pink arrows interjecting throughout the series. Running left to right along the timeline: identify disabled stakeholders and experts, accessible general stakeholder meetings, disabled stakeholder focus groups and experts, prototyping of accessible design elements, and access audits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/79b824a6-12df-4771-b411-906ca294f4fe/eugene.jpg How to Include Disabled People in the Design Process - Make it stand out Image description: A disabled stakeholder group meeting hosted in Eugene Town Square, in Eugene, Oregon, in March 2020, at a local YMCA. The image at left shows the disabled stakeholders around 3 tables formed in a U shape. There are wheelchair and scooter users present, Blind and low vision folks present, a hard of hearing man, and a woman who is the mother of an autistic child. The room has a hearing loop installed on the floor with green tape, and the captioner sits in the background with a laptop. The right image is a snippet of a simple tactile plan created by OLIN for Blind and low vision attendees. The plan is printed out with linework, and pieces of cardboard, dried hot glue, and cut strips of sandpaper denote different textures, placement of trees, and design elements. Small structures on site are made of cardboard. https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/disabled-design-history daily 0.75 2023-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623733898742-AUQC0EK09LKH62K0MTJW/history.jpg Disabled Design History & Rights: 101 - The Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s-70s took place in large part at my alma mater, UC Berkeley. But the disabled community’s rich, parallel history is often forgotten and erased. The Disability Rights movement was spearheaded by disabled people and the community continues to fight for our rights to public space. This movement is still very much alive – it is not past, but present. Image Description: A black and white photo of a protest that took place at UC Berkeley in the 1970s There are disabled protestors chanting and holding protest signs. A large sign to the right stands out and reads (in handwriting): Every Body Needs Equal Access. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623734095065-QNN5GXNI0PQQTUWPP4R7/history2.jpg Disabled Design History & Rights: 101 - In the early 1970s, Professor Emeritus Raymond Lifchez led a studio course at UC Berkeley with Barbara Winslow, which brought physically disabled people into the classroom, as stakeholders and experts, to provide guidance and feedback to non-disabled students’ architecture projects. This is not common practice today in the classroom nor in our profession. Image Description: A black and white photo of a university architecture studio at Wurster Hall (now Bauer-Wurster Hall), UC Berkeley, in 1972. Non-disabled architecture students sit around a table that has cardboard architecture models, with physically disabled stakeholders giving feedback. In the background are studio desks, large pieces of paper, and other architecture models. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623734299677-2ISB7R5C7PMKNJGKPEGI/history3.jpg Disabled Design History & Rights: 101 - Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act was signed into law in 1973, which would prohibit exclusion of or discrimination against disabled people under any program or building receiving federal funding. However, in 1977, four years later, it had yet to be implemented. In April of 1977, demonstrations led by the disabled community began across the United States. Judy Heumann and Kitty Cone led the largest non-violent occupation of a federal building in US history in San Francisco, where over 100 disabled protestors and their allies, such as the Black Panther Party, occupied a federal building for just under a month. They got Section 504 implemented as a result, through collective and intersectional protest, and these regulations would lay the groundwork for the more comprehensive Americans with Disabilities Act, 13 years later. Image Description: A black and white photo of the Section 504 protest in 1977, inside a federal building in San Francisco. The room is full of disabled activists with a diversity of cultural backgrounds, many in wheelchairs. In the middle is a white woman signing in ASL and to the right is a man standing with a video camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623734420093-RWO2PDG9542UU8UCQISO/history4.jpg Disabled Design History & Rights: 101 - Most of us are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990, but similarly to Section 504’s history, the disabled community’s extensive efforts are often forgotten and erased. In 1990, disabled people marched on Washington D.C. to spur congress to pass the ADA. To illustrate their struggles with inaccessibility to the built environment, physically disabled people took to the Capitol building steps and crawled their way up. The ADA was passed on July 26, 1990 and directly influences our legally-binding accessibility standards. Image Description: An image (in color) of the Capitol Crawl in 1990, in which physically disabled protestors crawled up the Capitol Steps in D.C. to push for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Most of the protestors wear blue t-shirts and crawl backwards up the stairs, sitting on their bottom. A few crawl forwards on all fours. Carers and assistants help to transfer some folks out of their wheelchairs at the front, bottom of steps. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/b31c78ae-4eac-4436-b17f-82b9eb0186a5/history+5.jpg Disabled Design History & Rights: 101 Image description: A timeline, made by Alexa, of a selection of disability rights laws and guidelines. It begins at 1961 with ANSI 117.1, Design for All Americans in 1967, Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) in 1968, Section 504 in 1973, MGRAD in 1982, UFAS in 1984, Fair Housing Act Amendments in 1988, ADA in 1990, ADA Standards for Accessible Design in 1991, UFAS Retrofit Manual and ADAAG, the Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards in 2007, and Guidance on the ADA in 2010. Each of these includes a small image of the cover of the standards or snapshot of the law. Some include buttons (“Sign 504” yellow button, blue ADA button). And some also include a snapshot of what the graphics look like. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1623734932561-PC8322TM8B8AIIVW0VHZ/ADA+Standards.PNG Disabled Design History & Rights: 101 Image description: The black and white cover of the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The left side is a gray bar, and examples of some of the graphics in the book are overlaid on the gray bar and the white background. The title is in white text over a large black bar at the center. In the upper right corner is the seal of the Department of Justice. https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/access-audit daily 0.75 2025-09-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/be2758b3-8a87-4a1c-8573-9c7e4b3cdd24/Image+3_Access+Audit+1+-+Photo_Credit+to+Sandra+Raak.jpg How to Conduct an Accessibility Audit - Make it stand out Photograph of one of the access audit groups (approximately 15 people) in Nashville. Everyone is wearing jackets and gathers around a small ramp surrounded by young trees with fall color. Alexa holds a yellow level to measure slope and Karen Braitmayer is visible in her wheelchair next to the ASL interpreter. Image courtesy of Sandra K. Raak, 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/61b24fe7-74e5-41e8-a1bf-5a48513bf221/Image+4_Access+Audit+2+-+Photo_Credit+to+Leann+Andrews.jpg How to Conduct an Accessibility Audit - Make it stand out Photograph of Alexa leading Penn State students up a ramp with metal rails and surrounded by planters located in front of Recital Hall Plaza on campus. Surrounding trees are bare as they have dropped their leaves for the winter. Everyone wears jackets and some have backpacks. Alexa is visible in the background in a purple jacket with yellow level to measure slope. Image courtesy of Dr. Leann Andrews, 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/5a935ad4-6201-4609-aad4-bda8272514aa/Image+6_Access+Audit+3+-+Photo_Credit+to+Elaine+Anderson.jpg How to Conduct an Accessibility Audit - Make it stand out Photograph of one of the access audit groups (approximately 15 people) in Minneapolis. Everyone is wearing jackets and gathers around a wall with images on it at Peavey Plaza. Jill is visible in the foreground in her wheelchair, with black jacket and beige beanie hat. Image courtesy of Contour Collective, 2023. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/d1e9781a-4679-44dc-be1d-dc66b3668f60/Image+8_Access+Audit+4+-+Photo.jpg How to Conduct an Accessibility Audit - Make it stand out Photograph of the access audit group (approximately 20 people) at Gallaudet University. The weather is warm and sunny and everyone gathers around a planted area on campus near the 6th Street Corridor. Richard Dougherty is visible at left in a dark blazer signing to the group, with Alexa to his left in a black vest. Image courtesy of Derrick Behm, 2024. https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/deafscape daily 0.75 2023-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/52ce6255-d121-499d-abb5-3e88f4a6b78e/fingerspell.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/764573b0-5d49-4ca1-9610-a8f7c58e078d/DeafScape+Graphic_AV.png https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/services daily 0.75 2025-12-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/1e1b611b-9907-4145-b185-d1dcad223ee8/download.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/8a3f223f-7ff8-43c7-a595-4ad1a5115bc9/download-1.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/717e4edc-71e0-4aef-9ebe-b13bffe155c4/download.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/2a643b17-2e41-486d-bf9c-ba7c3de7091f/world_enabled_logo.png https://www.designwithdisabledpeoplenow.com/ddnxla daily 0.75 2025-09-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f1b3a0d06414051551ceef6/c38c012c-ebc6-473d-9493-8795f069d83d/DDNxLA+logos-05.png