Advances in Design for Inclusion

This book addresses a range of topics in design, such as universal design, design for all, digital inclusion, universal usability, and accessibility of technologies regardless of people's age, financial situation, education, geographic location, culture and language. It especially focuses on accessibility for people with auditory, cognitive, neurological, and visual impairments, ageing populations, and mobility for those with special physical needs.

The book explores some of the overlaps between inclusive design and web accessibility to help managers, designers, developers, policy makers, and researchers optimize their efforts in these areas. Based on the AHFE 2017 International Conference on Design for Inclusion, held on July 17-21, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA, it discusses new design technologies and highlights the disparate needs of the individuals within a community. Thanks to its multidisciplinary approach, the book represents a useful resource for readers with various backgrounds, providing them a timely, practice-oriented guide to design for inclusion.

Born in Pescara in 1967, he is an architect, with a Masters in Ergonomics and Ph.D in technological and design innovation Culture (2001). 
He has had teaching assignments at the University of Roma-La Sapienza, Politecnico di Milano, Palermo, Florence and Chieti-Pescara, where he currently teaches Design 2. She has participated in numerous national research related to the design of the application fields. 
Conducts research mainly in the field of relationships and synergies between Design and Ergonomics, ie the relations between individuals, artifacts and environments for the development of a user-centered approach to type design, themes with which he has participated in numerous national conferences and International. The application areas were those of the industrial product and in particular the nautical design and, recently, the Design for All and ergonomics for sustainable development. 
He has won numerous competitions and international architectural awards ( 'subversive insertions' Use Institute in Verona) and design ( 'Design Plus 2007', ISH Frankfurt). Professionally he has studied in Design, collaborating with numerous companies (including Gattocucine, Valcucine, Foster, Abis, Tecnolam), exposing at important exhibitions and events in Milan, Verona, Brussels, Moscow, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, receiving reviews in prestigious magazines. 
It is representative of the Agency SDI (Italian Design System) of Chieti to the Assembly of the Territorial Delegation of the National Council for Design Research. As part of the IEA (International Ergonomics Association), he is co-Chair of the International Technical Subcommittee 'Ergonomics and Design for Sustainability'.

Pete Kercher followed up a law degree from Southampton University with a period in international youth politics (Vice-President, European Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth, 1975-77). Moving to Italy in 1978, he established a communications and design consulting agency in Italy in 1978, now KSDC Strategic Design and Communications. 
Executive Officer of the Bureau of European Designers Associations (BEDA) in 1988-94, he then represented Italy on its Board of Directors until 2002.
A member of ADI, the Italian Association for the Industrial Design, since 1994, he co-ordinated its International Committee in 1999-2001 and the Italian National Council of Design in 2000-2001.
A founder member of EIDD - Design for All Europe in 1993 (President in 2003-7) and of its national counterpart Design for All Italy (President 1997-99), he is currently its roving Ambassador, speaking and lecturing in an average of 10 countries worldwide every year. 
A member of several scientific, consulting and editorial committees and juries for international conferences, journals and awards and author of numerous articles and manifestos for political, legal and design publications, he served as a member of the Group of Experts in Design at the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM) throughout its existence (2002-2008). 

A convinced believer in applying design methods to the strategic challenges generated by today's complex and continuously changing society, so as to trigger interdisciplinary cross-fertilisation and synergy, he has written articles and manifestos for political, legal and design publications, chaired and addressed conferences, seminars and symposia all over Europe and the rest of the world and acted as consultant to several international projects. In 2010, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Design Silesia project, run by the Region of Silesia, in Poland.
As President of EIDD, he focused on critical mass in terms of membership (the countries with active official member organisations increased from four to fifteen in the four years and have increased further to twenty-three since then), of academic credibility (the definitive EIDD Stockholm Declaration© was drafted and passed in 2004) and of taking the message about Design for All out into the real world of business and public administration, both by targeting the European Commission, other international agencies and major international organisations operating in the private sector and by devising and launching a cycle of major annual conferences focusing on macrotopics, areas where design can make a real difference: Culture for All (2005), Work for All (2006) and Tourism for All (2007). 
The author of many articles in specialised magazines and other publications, he has conducted or contributed to round tables, conferences and congresses throughout Europe and in other parts of the globe about marketing, Design for All and the workspace. After proposing the EIDD global communications competition for posters, videos and guerrilla marketing campaigns about Design for All, which was organised in partnership with the Bologna Design Centre with the patronage of Icograda and launched at Torino World Design Capital in 2008. He was also instrumental in EIDD's presence in the official agenda of Helsinki World Design Capital 2012, writing a preparatory editorial for the major daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and co-organising the Cities for All conference and travelling exhibition, whose three language versions (English, Serbian and Italian) have so far visited 19 venues in Europe.
He drew up the blueprints for the Mobile Inclusive Design Museum in Serbia, launched in February 2010, the Silesian Mobile Design Container (since March 2012) and the Michal Ozmin Design for All Archive and Research Centre in Cieszyn, Poland (December 2010), which he serves as President of the Think Tank. Partnering with the Milan Chamber of Commerce special agency Promos for international design partnerships, he collaborates in strategic planning with the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Confartigianato) in the Italian province of Vicenza. In May 2011, he was appointed to the Policy Board of the Zamek Cieszyn (Centre for Research and Documentation of Material Culture and Design), in Poland.
Instrumental in organising the first-ever design content in a European Capital of Culture (Vilnius, 2009), he spearheads the understanding of design and strategic design as the interface between culture and return on investment both in Brussels (European Commission, European Parliament) and in Strasbourg (Council of Europe), as well as at home in Italy, where he is a member of the Research Committee of the high-level annual Ravello Lab. 
Currently involved in creating and executing strategic design projects, whose aim is to revitalise and strengthen opportunities for economic and social development in the private and public sectors in several European countries, he has taken a major interest in Tourism for All since organising the first major international conference on the topic in the Milan Triennale in 2007 and recently (October 2014) authored the first draft of the Manifesto of Matera on universal accessibility to the cultural heritage. 
More recent relevant speaking and workshop engagements have included 'Designing a City for All: the Challenge for Expo 2015', Milan (2010); session chair at the Design and Learning Conference, organised by the European Commission DG Education and Culture, 2010; address to the Creative Industries Forum in Bilbao, 2011; 'I have a dream: Design for All for a new future', contributing to post-earthquake socio-economic reconstruction in Abruzzo, 2011; 'Designing the Quality of Life in a Modern Economy' Conference of the Polish Patent Office, Warsaw, 2012; 'What makes a city smart? Social inclusion in the cities of tomorrow', European Economic Congress, Katowice, 2012; 'Building the Future on Diversity', Council of Europe Conference, Venice, 2012; 'Accessibility and Enhancing the Value of the Cultural Heritage: Innovative Policies, Tools and Projects', Pietrasanta Culture Centre, Naples, 2013; 'Design for All for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises', workshop with the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Research, Berlin, 2013; 'Design for All: the Business Response to Social Needs', Polish Ministry of Social Affairs Conference, Warsaw, 2013; 'Changing the World by Design: Co-operation, Exchange, Change', TEDx Gdynia; 'From Design for All to Strategic Design', workshop, University of Kielce, 2013; 'Design for All and Design Thinking for the Cultural Heritage', Chieti, 2014; 'From Design for All to Strategic Design', University of Bratislava, 2014; 'An open design process for developing social cohesion', IUAV University of Venice, Bassano del Grappa, 2014; 'Designing Smarter Cities', European Economic Congress, Katowice, 2014; 'Design for All as an interdisciplinary tool for promoting strategies of territorial development', University of L'Aquila, 2014; 'Design for All: Design for inclusion, human diversity and equality', Palace of Culture, Catania, 2014; 'Strategic Management of a Work Structure: Scope of the project, budget, target groups, user needs, available resources' and 'Generations Cogenerate', Gdynia Design Week, 2014. 
Pete Kercher is trilingual, being equally fluent in his native English and German and in Italian, the language of the country where he has lived since 1978. He also speaks French and conversational Spanish. He has recently returned to take an active interest in the politics of European integration, addressing training events and holding workshops for politicians and political decision-makers of all generations, maintaining close personal contacts with MEPs, the European design community and Europe's leading legal sociologists.
When he gets a chance, he likes to take time to go for long walks in the mountains near his home overlooking Lake Como, in northern Italy, and to visit friends all over the continent, to keep his contacts with the many different facets of European society always up to date. For this purpose, he is also active in many discussion panels about society, politics, design and law in online social networks.