Media: BBC endorses Inclusive Design

The BBC website's new section on "Welcome to the ageing future" is a good read generally, but has brought the ball squarely into our court with a piece on "Design for life: How a new breed of consumer is changing the face of UK design".

'We're living longer and staying healthier and more active into much later life. So why the pessimism about Britain's ageing population?' One reason might be that manufacturers haven't caught on to the idea of inclusive design, amply described and advocated here by the likes of Roger Colemen of the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, Royal College of Art, and David Yelding of Ricability.

'While people with arthritis have a particular struggle, there are plenty of daily household tasks that young and old alike find tricky - so why aren't more manufacturers cashing in by improving their products?

'"They just seem to be too afraid to take the plunge with something that is fundamentally quite new," says Nina Warburton, director of product designers The Alloy.'

Associated Link: BBC: A design for (long) life

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