On storytelling, creativity, human difference and the hopeful possibilities of Universal Design.
Some conferences leave you with a notebook full of ideas. Others leave you with something more enduring — a renewed sense of purpose, fresh perspectives and a little more hope. For me, UD26, the International Universal Design Conference, was one of those occasions.
There was something wonderfully fitting about a gathering in Galway devoted to Universal Design opening with the richness of Ireland’s storytelling tradition. The wonderfully engaging Aindrias de Staic, a performer and storyteller rooted in the Irish Bardic tradition, brought humour, energy and imagination to proceedings. His contribution reminded us of a simple yet profound idea, attributed to St Brigid:
“Difference is the condition of everyone.”
Just seven words. Yet they capture something fundamental about Universal Design and how we might think about education, communities and society itself. The challenge is not how to accommodate difference as an exception. It is how to recognise difference as the starting point for everything we design.
Beyond accessibility: Designing for belonging
Throughout UD26, speakers and participants from around the world explored how Universal Design can create more inclusive products, services, environments and experiences. What struck me was the ambition underpinning these conversations. Universal Design is often discussed through standards, guidelines, compliance and accessibility. These are essential foundations. But its ambitions extend much further.
Universal Design is about the kind of society we want to create.
A society where participation is not determined by how closely someone matches an imagined “normal” person. Where inclusion is not something we retrofit when problems arise, but something we consider from the very beginning.
What might this mean for education?
As an educator, I found myself returning repeatedly to the implications for teaching and learning. Every classroom brings together learners with different experiences, strengths, challenges and aspirations. Yet educational systems have often been designed around assumptions about how a typical learner should participate and demonstrate learning.
Universal Design invites us to challenge those assumptions. Rather than asking why learners struggle to fit into an environment, we might ask what barriers the environment itself creates.
Inclusion is not about lowering expectations. It is about widening the possibilities for people to achieve them.
For education and training, this is particularly important. Our responsibility is not simply to transmit knowledge and skills, but to create conditions in which learners’ diverse talents can be discovered, developed and valued.
From principles to practice: Benchmarking Universal Design
One of the personal highlights of UD26 was the opportunity to jointly present a workshop, “Benchmarking Universal Design – A Matrix for Evaluating Accessibility, Usability, and Universal Design.”
I was delighted to collaborate with Per-Olof Hedvall of Mid Sweden University, Lilian Müller of Lund University’s Department of Design Sciences, and Dr Ger Craddock of the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design at the National Disability Authority.
Our workshop explored how we might move beyond good intentions to better understand and evaluate the impact of Universal Design. It raised an important question: How do we know whether our efforts are genuinely making a difference?
Accessibility and usability are essential, but Universal Design also invites us to consider the wider processes and societal outcomes of our work. Per-Olof’s thought-provoking website, Nonclusive, is well worth visiting for anyone interested in exploring this work further.
Technology, AI and the human question
UD26 also explored the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. AI offers possibilities for improving accessibility, communication and participation. But it also raises important questions and concerns at a local, national and international level.
Including Who benefits? Whose needs are considered? Who might be excluded? And who participates in shaping the technologies that increasingly influence our lives?
At a personal level these are questions about values, dignity, agency and human judgement.
When creativity brings inclusion to life
One of the most memorable aspects of UD26 was how creativity helped bring its ambitions to life. The conference featured a new poem by Colm Keegan, whose work reminds us of the power of creative expression to give voice to human experiences and possibilities. Another highlight was the premiere screening of Driven to Ride, a documentary by award-winning filmmaker PJ Moynihan.
The film tells the extraordinary story of disability rights activists whose persistence helped transform America’s oldest public transit system from one that resisted accessibility into a model for inclusive transportation.
Through interviews, archival material and footage captured on location, it illustrates how meaningful change emerges through advocacy, collaboration and collective leadership.
At its heart is a powerful principle from the Disability Rights Movement:
“Nothing About Us Without Us.”
What a compelling expression of Universal Design in action. The film reminds us that accessibility is not simply a technical challenge. It is about rights, dignity and people’s determination to shape the institutions that affect their lives. And when public transportation becomes more accessible, everyone benefits.
Together, Aindrias’s storytelling, Colm’s poetry and PJ Moynihan’s documentary reminded us that Universal Design is about people, their stories, their aspirations and their freedom to participate.
Sometimes it takes a story, a poem or a film to remind us why all of this matters.
Leaving with hope
As I reflect on UD26, I find myself returning to those opening words:
“Difference is the condition of everyone.”
What a liberating idea. For educators, designers, policymakers and everyone whose decisions shape people’s experiences, that is both a responsibility and an extraordinary opportunity. We do not have to change everything overnight. We can begin by asking better questions. By listening. By challenging assumptions. By removing barriers. By designing something a little more thoughtfully than we did yesterday. That is what I will remember most about UD26. Not simply the presentations, the research or the inspiring contributions, but the warmth of the conversations, the generosity of those who shared their experiences, and the collective sense that a more inclusive world is not only necessary – a collective feeling that it is possible.
It brings to mind the words of Maya Angelou:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
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