https://peohedvall.com/posts Nonclusive by Design newsletter editions and essays on accessibility, usability and Universal Design. en https://peohedvall.com/posts/n19-design-can-protect-and-support-dignity-but-not-create-it https://peohedvall.com/posts/n19-design-can-protect-and-support-dignity-but-not-create-it Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every person has inherent worth and dignity simply by being born. It exists whether or not design acknowledges it. But every design decision can either recognise and support that existing dignity, or undermine and violate it. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n18-the-lazarus-door https://peohedvall.com/posts/n18-the-lazarus-door Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT I recently saw Wake Up Dead Man – A Knives Out Mystery. It was a good film, and one thing in particular stayed with me: the Lazarus door to the Wicks' mausoleum. It took me until the day after to figure out why I couldn't let go of that do… https://peohedvall.com/posts/n17-spring-challenge https://peohedvall.com/posts/n17-spring-challenge Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT It is springtime in Sweden, and we are starting to spend more time outside. I have a challenge for you. The next time you go for a walk, look at the spaces around you, and try to photograph belonging. And if you travel, you naturally pay m… https://peohedvall.com/posts/n16-the-sign-my-mind-added https://peohedvall.com/posts/n16-the-sign-my-mind-added Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT I was presenting at a workshop on accessibility and universal design in museums. About twenty participants were in the room. I was in the middle of describing the entrance of the building where I had worked for years, the Ingvar Kamprad De… https://peohedvall.com/posts/n15-benchmarking-universal-design https://peohedvall.com/posts/n15-benchmarking-universal-design Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you started to discuss how to evaluate Universal Design and ended up discussing ramps and other accessibility features? I have. Many times. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n14-on-being-disablised https://peohedvall.com/posts/n14-on-being-disablised Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT I made this photo collage to capture a feeling: the experience of being "disablised." https://peohedvall.com/posts/n13-what-if-universal-design-were-always-nonclusive https://peohedvall.com/posts/n13-what-if-universal-design-were-always-nonclusive Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every few years, I return to a chapter I first read as a fresh PhD student in 2006. Edward Steinfeld and Beth Tauke's "Universal Designing"[2] was part of a remarkable period for the field. When someone asks me about a key era in Universal… https://peohedvall.com/posts/n12-vibrating-inequality https://peohedvall.com/posts/n12-vibrating-inequality Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Hello there 👋 Disability studies has long argued for centring lived experience. But it can be hard to fully convey what it feels like to move through a city in a wheelchair. This newsletter describes an experiment in making the invisible v… https://peohedvall.com/posts/n11-what-not-yet-denies-already-can-change https://peohedvall.com/posts/n11-what-not-yet-denies-already-can-change Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT In newsletter #8, I wrote about a situation on board a train, where I was placed in a separate space that felt like a luggage compartment (Figure 1). It became my most shared post so far, and something clearly resonated. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n10-one-word-for-universal-design https://peohedvall.com/posts/n10-one-word-for-universal-design Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT This is this year’s final edition, written as we head into a season that reminds us of the value of togetherness. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n9-say-i-already-belong-and-the-conditional-access-paradigm-crumbles https://peohedvall.com/posts/n9-say-i-already-belong-and-the-conditional-access-paradigm-crumbles Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Lately, I’ve been trying to work through the consequences of the statement “I already belong”. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n8-why-getting-from-a-to-b-isn-t-enough https://peohedvall.com/posts/n8-why-getting-from-a-to-b-isn-t-enough Tue, 25 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Universal Design goes beyond accessibility. This story shows how design choices shape dignity and diversity, and how getting from point A to B isn't enough. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n7-how-categorisation-shapes-and-limits-universal-design https://peohedvall.com/posts/n7-how-categorisation-shapes-and-limits-universal-design Thu, 13 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Why do we have different signs for "disabled toilet" and "toilet"? Why not just "Large" and "Small" toilets? This suggestion has been around since the 1970s, but still awaits its breakthrough. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n6-why-do-we-grab-our-cameras-when-something-feels-wrong https://peohedvall.com/posts/n6-why-do-we-grab-our-cameras-when-something-feels-wrong Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT My work often starts with a photo. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n5-who-are-all-these-others-in-policy-texts https://peohedvall.com/posts/n5-who-are-all-these-others-in-policy-texts Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Have you noticed how often the word "others" appears in policy texts? My previous articles dealt with "us and them" divisions in signs and the built environment. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n4-who-carries-the-burden-when-design-fails https://peohedvall.com/posts/n4-who-carries-the-burden-when-design-fails Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Using a red carpet on an inaccessible staircase effectively places a person using a wheelchair, like me, as “abnormal”. The red carpet on this hotel's stairs clearly wasn't rolled out for me (Picture 1). https://peohedvall.com/posts/n3-three-strategies-designers-use-to-acknowledge-diversity https://peohedvall.com/posts/n3-three-strategies-designers-use-to-acknowledge-diversity Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT I love toilet signs. They say a lot about our society and how people think. https://peohedvall.com/posts/n2-why-nonclusion https://peohedvall.com/posts/n2-why-nonclusion Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT I got a question in a comment that inspired this post: Why did you choose the term “nonclusion”? Good question! https://peohedvall.com/posts/n1-design-beyond-us-and-them https://peohedvall.com/posts/n1-design-beyond-us-and-them Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT Design is powerful. It shapes how we move, connect, and participate. Too often, it silently follows norms that exclude, creating experiences of "us" and "them". https://peohedvall.com/posts/peekaboo-the-joke-that-showed-how https://peohedvall.com/posts/peekaboo-the-joke-that-showed-how Fri, 01 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT The moment I stepped onto the stage to begin my presentation on Universal Design, I stared at a huge monster of a fixed speaker podium that stood between me and the audience. https://peohedvall.com/posts/one-goal-three-names-why-i-dont-separate https://peohedvall.com/posts/one-goal-three-names-why-i-dont-separate Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT I enjoy a good conceptual discussion just as much as anyone else, but not when it comes to the three siblings: “Universal Design”, “Inclusive Design” and “Design for all”. https://peohedvall.com/posts/early-2000s-universal-design-books https://peohedvall.com/posts/early-2000s-universal-design-books Tue, 29 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT In 2002, Edward Steinfeld and Beth Tauke published the one text on Universal Design that I have read most often, "Universal Design*ing*" [1]. https://peohedvall.com/posts/1-book-on-universal-design-every https://peohedvall.com/posts/1-book-on-universal-design-every Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Since I started as a PhD student nearly 20 years ago, I have read numerous books on Universal Design. https://peohedvall.com/posts/forget-norms-and-deviations-design https://peohedvall.com/posts/forget-norms-and-deviations-design Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Discussions involving Universal Design often revolve around functions, features or characteristics. But what about feelings and experiences? https://peohedvall.com/posts/brutal-nudging-or-how-i-got-bruised https://peohedvall.com/posts/brutal-nudging-or-how-i-got-bruised Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Design can be brutal in how it affects people. https://peohedvall.com/posts/the-problem-with-inclusion-it-is https://peohedvall.com/posts/the-problem-with-inclusion-it-is Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Everything we create carries values, including our words. https://peohedvall.com/posts/tacit-vs-explicit-accessibility https://peohedvall.com/posts/tacit-vs-explicit-accessibility Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT All too often, what is accessible is highlighted and marked with wheelchair symbols. https://peohedvall.com/posts/in-a-different-world https://peohedvall.com/posts/in-a-different-world Sun, 10 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT Imagine a place where human diversity is expected and accessibility is the norm. There are such pockets of society, but they are few and far between. Hotel Ilunion Malaga is one of them. https://peohedvall.com/posts/new-publication-universal-design-at-work-places https://peohedvall.com/posts/new-publication-universal-design-at-work-places Thu, 20 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT Last year, I was invited to write a book chapter on the growth of Universal Design by a Swedish initiative aiming at creating and supporting inclusive workplaces in Sweden. I gave the chapter the title: "The Growth of Universal Design – A… https://peohedvall.com/posts/universal-design-a-shift-in-culture-keynote-lecture https://peohedvall.com/posts/universal-design-a-shift-in-culture-keynote-lecture Sun, 16 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT Does Universal Design demand a cultural transformation to succeed? My short answer would be “Yes!”. https://peohedvall.com/posts/universell-utformning-vad-ar-det-och-varfor-ar-det-viktigt https://peohedvall.com/posts/universell-utformning-vad-ar-det-och-varfor-ar-det-viktigt Tue, 26 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT I den här presentationen berättar jag om sju nyckelord som jag tycker är viktiga för universell utformning. Jag höll presentationen i samband med att Jönköping firade att de vann den prestigefyllda European Access City Award. https://peohedvall.com/posts/design-som-stodjer-jamlikhet-universell-utformning https://peohedvall.com/posts/design-som-stodjer-jamlikhet-universell-utformning Thu, 21 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT Har du någon gång befunnit dig i en situation där du har känt dig lite obekväm och att du inte riktigt passar in? Kanske lite som en fyrkant i ett runt hål? Att du blivit placerad i en kategori som du inte valt själv? Hur fungerar egentlig… https://peohedvall.com/posts/universell-utformning-en-personlig-introdoktion https://peohedvall.com/posts/universell-utformning-en-personlig-introdoktion Fri, 18 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT Denna video är tänkt som en kort, personlig introduktion till Universell utformning, eller Universal Design som det heter på engelska. I videon berättar jag om varför jag tycker att universell utformning är viktigt. Jag bygger introduktion…