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Believing in the idea of “design is for all”, JD institute recently organized a webinar session on Universal Design. The webinar that was scheduled on October 13th, 5 pm to 6 pm gave our students an insight into the practical facet of design. Denouncing the common belief of “design for design’s sake”, the industry lecture focused on the importance of designs that is accessible to all. It showed our students how to solve problems creatively, through design. Our speaker, Dr. Anjlee Agarwal spoke about the importance of universal design and why designing keeping in mind people with special abilities makes a good designer.

Our speaker, Dr. Anjlee Agarwal is a National Awardee 2003 and the Executive Director of Samarthyam. The webinar on Universal design talks about the process of designing and creating products that are accessible to people with special abilities. It further enlightened the students about the challenges faced by the specially-abled people and how designers can be more thoughtful while developing designs and infrastructure to accommodate everyone.

Dr. Anjlee Agarwal is a notable figure in the domain of universal design. Her contribution to the sector has made a considerable mark in the heart of the users. She is a disability rights advocate, accessibility, mobility, and WASH specialist well-known in the Asia Pacific region. She co-founded Samarthyam, National Centre for Accessible Environments. She is a member of, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), CSO-Standing Committee, Government of India. For her action-oriented approach and work with UN agencies, INGOs, and the Government of India, she has been awarded the Role Model: National Award presented by the President of India. She is a recipient of many more national and international awards like Noble Laureates – Karamveer Puruskar, Best Innovative Policy Award, Vienna, and many more. Adding to her list of achievements, Dr. Anjlee Agarwal is also a proud member of NITI-CSO-Standing Committee, NITI Aayog, Government of India, Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India Roads Congress, Government of IndiaTask Force on Women Safety in Public Transport, Government of Delhi and

Transport Research Board, USA.

The session focused on the importance and practical usage of universal design by bringing their case studies into play. As the session unfolded, the students learned about the principles of Universal Design from the case studies of Buildings that Samarthyam has worked on. These said case studies were shown to the students with an objective to make them understand the challenges and issues faced by the specially-abled and make them empathetic towards their plight. Highlighting the notion of “Incredible India, Inclusive India”, our imminent speaker talked in-depth about the importance of signages. Signages to identify NMV Lanes, NMV Crossings, and Pedestrians crossing. The conclusion focused on the very importance of universal design for every scape of our society. From public restrooms to everyday hardware, the speaker gave us an insight into the vast plethora of products that are designed with the sole focus of enhanced usability.