DeafSpace: ASL, Design Thinking Skills, and More!
"The impacts of accessibility, or lack thereof, is something that touches everyone's lives, and I think people are eager and motivated to learn ways to incorporate accessibility into their daily life so they can build a world that works for everyone." - Grace Cipressi, Assistive Technology Specialist
On Thursday, March 20th and Friday, March 21st 魅影直播 held its second annual Accessibility Series, a two-day celebration focused on exploring the themes of disability, accessibility, and culture. This year鈥檚 theme was DeafSpace, an architectural design concept about building spaces that respect and reflect the way Deaf people inhabit space, and featured two guest speakers: Hansel Bauman, former Gallaudet University campus architect who is credited with this design concept, and Melanie Drolsbaugh, American Sign Language (ASL) professor at Swarthmore College.
The event began on Thursday evening in the Great Hall with a talk by Melanie Drolsbaugh, who explained some of the grammatical structure of ASL, including the way spatial relationships help in creating meaning when signing. She shared further about certain barriers found in the built environment, and how these have a negative impact on the Deaf community. Her remarks set the stage for Hansel to share the design principles of DeafSpace which seek to honor the strong sense of community in the Deaf world and create environments conducive for easy communication in both signed and spoken languages, as well as well-being and safety within the built environment. After the keynote, the audience had a chance to ask questions and converse with other event participants about the concepts discussed.
The following day Melanie led an Introduction to ASL workshop where members of the TriCo community learned some of the basics of ASL. After a lunch break, Hansel led a DeafSpace workshop that focused on the design thinking skills used in creating equitable spaces for all. As part of developing their design thinking skills, participants were encouraged to reflect on the sensory and emotional experiences of the places they inhabit on a daily basis and their movement through these spaces. Next, each individual was given the persona of someone who might be on a college campus. With these personas in mind, each participant drew a college campus that would best suit that person鈥檚 access needs. After everyone had completed their individual work, participants came together to explore the connection between each campus design and to see which structures and features could overlap and interact with each other. Layering their designs, the participants made a campus map that incorporated all the ideas into one. To see the completed map and to learn more about DeafSpace design, please schedule an appointment to visit the new Disability, Unity, and Innovation Center (DUIC) in Canaday A18.
Pictures from the DeafSpace Events!
