Let us move beyond word battles and separatism: strategies and concerns regarding universal design in Sweden

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2021-0108
• Published date: 28 March 2022
• Date: 28 March 2022
• Pages: 15-29
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Emil Erdtman,Kirsten Rassmus-Gröhn,Per-Olof Hedvall

Let us move beyond word battles

and separatism: strategies and

concerns regarding universal

design in Sweden

Emil Erdtman, Kirsten Rassmus-Gr€

ohn and Per-Olof Hedvall

Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Abstract

Purpose –Universal design (UD) is defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities (UNCRPD) and adopted in Sweden as a guiding principle for thedesign of new products, facilities,

services, etc. This study aims to contribute to knowledge about UD in practice –how it is conceived,

experienced and discussed in Sweden, especially regarding education, working life and housing.

Design/methodology/approach –A group interview and a workshop (immersion into personas and

scenarios) with 14 practitioners of inclusion and accessibility from academia, civil society, business and the

public sector were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.

Findings –The participating practitioners related UD to a cluster of terms for inclusion and wanted to

communicate the reason for UD rather than battling about words. Flexibility was considered openness to the

diversity of human conditions and situations combined with individualization capacity including assistance.

Short-term demands for access and compliance to minimum standards must be balanced with long-term

learning processes. Evaluation, relation-building and dialogs must update and contextualize UD, for example,

in relation to categorization.

Originality/value –This study yields an in-depth picture of how the practice of UD is conceived, experienced

and discussed among Swedish practitioners of inclusion and accessibility. It elucidates dissonances between

experiences and ideals, standardizedand flexible design, and the interests of users and institutions. It enhances

knowledge of the dilemmas in inclusive and diversity-based practices, as well as the implementation and

promotion of UD.

Keywords Accessibility, Disabilities, Diversity, Inclusion, Practice, Universal design

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Universal design (UD) can be traced to the 1980s (Iwarsson and St



ahl, 2003)whentheterm

emerged in architecture and product design “tobring people with disabilities into the mainstream

of society”(Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012,p.15).Thisdesign–or rather designing –was intended to

ensure equal opportunities for human diversity and to eliminate discrimination due to disability

(Steinfeld and Tauke, 2002). The adoption of UD into the United Nations Convention on the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (United Nations, 2006) has led to the concept

becoming a guiding principle for policymaking in many countries and sectors of society.

UD is related to accessibility though positions vary. Steinfeld and Maisel (2012, p. 12)

describe UD’s origin as a reaction against the “accessible design”of the 1970s. They associate

Universal

design in

practice

15

© Emil Erdtman, Kirsten Rassmus-Gr€

ohn and Per-Olof Hedvall. Published by Emerald Publishing

Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone

may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and

non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full

terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode.

The authors extend warm gratitude to the participants who made this study possible and the

reviewers of this Journal. The work is funded by the doctoral studies program at Certec, the Department

of Design Sciences, Lund University. The authors have no competing interests to declare.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 22 April 2021

Revised 9 September 2021

28 November 2021

24 February 2022

Accepted 3 March 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 9, 2022

pp. 15-29

Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-04-2021-0108