| Abstract: | One of the main topics discussed at IFA’s Fourth Global Conference on Ageing in Montreal was that of Universal Design. As author Sandhu notes, Universal Design is not yet a coherent and systematic approach to designing for people; it has many missing pieces in its complex jigsaw puzzle. However, the recent focus on convergence, vigorously advocated by the UN Standard Rules and the European Commission, holds great promise for the propagation, practice and evolution of Universal Design. About the author: Jim S. Sandhu is a founding member and Past President of European Institute for Design and Disability as well as Director, Special Needs Research Unit, University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. This article was first presented as a paper at the Fourth Global Conference of the International Federation on Ageing: Ageing in a Society for all Ages, September 5–9, 1999, Montreal, Canada. |
