Housing
Home Modification
What is Universal Design?
“The day will come when people with disabilities young or old will move freely without barriers through all homes, as residents and as visitors. Not endangered by stairs, but safe. Not embarrassed by narrow doors, but at ease. Not at home isolated – but at the party.” –– From Concrete Change poster
There is an overwhelming majority of homes with a lack of basic accessibility features. As a result, this limits the ability of people with disabilities to visit friends and family, attend social gatherings, and fully participate in the life of their community. An international effort, led in the U.S. by the nonprofit Concrete Change out of Georgia, has been advocating for nearly a decade for the need to make all homes “visitable.” The concept of visitability focuses on private homes, not government buildings and public and commercial facilities, which are already covered by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). It focuses on making all homes visitable, not just “special” homes or those receiving federal funding.
Visitability involves the most essential features of a home – getting in and out and through a home without having to overcome architectural barriers.