The Curb Cuts of Kalamazoo

Wheelchair at inaccessible curb — Inaccessible curb, late 20th century. Division of Medicine and Science collections

In 1945, Jack Fisher was an intrepid attorney working in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Fisher had deep empathy for the many injured veterans returning from WWII, as he was, himself, an injured vet who had difficulty finding employment after his discharge from the service. Fisher found renewed worth in working on behalf of injured vets, and knew many of them would be better off with jobs; but he also recognized that many simply could not maneuver around the city to get to those jobs.

Fisher petitioned the city of Kalamazoo, and then worked with city planners to design and install curb cuts, ramps, and safety rails at corners so veterans using wheelchairs and crutches could more easily navigate. What was, at the time, a minimal outlay of less than $1000 dollars for the city of Kalamazoo resulted in unprecedented gains for the veterans. (Read more of Fisher's inspiring story)

Universal Design

At the heart of the Kalamazoo curb cut story is the principle that poor design limits use, while smart design broadens use. In fact, the curb cuts of Kalamazoo did not just aid veterans and others with mobility issues, they allowed better access for bikes, parents with strollers, and travelers with luggage. In the ensuing decades, laws emerged that mandated access to public buildings, but alongside those mandates--which ensure access, but not usability or functionality--arose tenets of design in architecture and city planning that had a drastic impact on the way we design public spaces. These are the tenets of universal design.

The following 7 Principles of Universal Design were developed in 1997 by a working group of architects, product designers, engineers and environmental design researchers, led by the late Ronald Mace at North Carolina State University (NCSU). They defined Universal Design as a "concept that recognizes, respects, values and attempts to accommodate the broadest possible spectrum of human ability in the design of all products, environments and information systems." These 7 components of Universal Design are:

Equitable - the design is equally useful to people with diverse abilities.
Flexible - the design supports differing abilities.
Simple - the design is intuitive.
Perceptible - the design offers material in multiple modalities.
Tolerance for error - the design minimizes possibilities for predictable errors.
Effortless - the design minimizes repetitive actions.
Spacious - the design includes appropriate room for users.

For greater elaboration on each of these components, view The 7 Principles.

This page is taken from the SP 23 iteration of the Creating Accessible Course Content course offering by CVC-OEI facilitated by MiraCosta Online Mentors. This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.