{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Facility Rockstars","title":"Understanding and Implementing Universal Design | Don Watson","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3309,"description":"Don Watson, Senior Vice President of Global Real Estate, Facilities, and EHS at Oracle, shares his insights on universal design. He introduces universal design as a framework for creating truly inclusive and productive environments that go beyond basic ADA compliance to serve people with diverse abilities. Centered on his core philosophy of \"people, people, people,\" Don explains how this approach enhances everything from safety and wellness to human performance by removing physical and social barriers. Drawing from a career that began in chemical engineering, he provides practical, often low-cost strategies for implementation and highlights the importance of embedding these principles into an organization's design standards from the start. Takeaways:Universal design creates inclusivity beyond compliance. It is a mindset shift focused on designing environments that are healthier, safer, and more productive for everyone by removing physical and social barriers. This approach intentionally goes beyond the baseline requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to create a workplace where anyone can thrive.Implementation can start with low-cost, high-impact changes. Many principles of universal design can be put into practice with little to no financial investment. Simple adjustments, such as arranging items on a shelf vertically instead of horizontally or ensuring an accessible-height desk is not used for storage, can make a significant and immediate impact.The most effective strategy is to embed universal design into your standards. To avoid costly retrofits, the goal should be to build the principles of universal design directly into your organization's official design standards. This ensures that every new project is inherently designed to be inclusive from its inception.The core of facilities management is \"People, People, People.\" Don's guiding principle is that despite advancements in technology, the profession is fundamentally about human...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/wIL-dAttDK3kGPGCx8T-IEpb3_8niKNWbKmYivkvwao/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83NTkz/MjEzMTc5OTY4MmRi/MzYxYmU4NjI4MTE4/ZTQ1ZC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}