Inclusive design: a solution to ease Scott's dexterity difficulties

The idea behind Inclusive design is that mainstream products and services are designed to be accessible to and useable by, as many people as reasonably possible, without the need for special adaptation or specialised design.

An accident 29 years ago left Scott Houston paralysed with limited mobility in his upper body making it impossible to pick up the telephone.  He was desperate to find a system that would enable him to answer the phone from his wheelchair from anywhere in his home or office.

Scott said, "I made lots of enquiries but it seemed there was nothing around to meet my needs." A friend from BT then put him in touch with Dave Barrett, technology manager in BT Retail's inclusion unit. After a few false starts, Dave spoke to Chris Newman, Plantronics UK national account manager, about a headset they supplied. Dave realised that by making a simple modification to the headset in the shape of a switch Scott would be able to use it to answer his incoming calls in his office.

It was a different matter at home where limited Bluetooth range was a problem. Dave spoke to Glen Shorrocks, BT business development manager of GN Netcom who supplied a DECT headset which Dave modified along the same lines as the unit used so successfully in Scott's office. The modified headset works in conjunction with the existing environmental control system on Scott's wheelchair where he can operate his lights, doors, TV and radio from the one box.

Scott said, "The solution has made my life much easier with more flexible systems of greater quality. Dave provided an excellent service."

Dave explained, "I wanted to show that with a simple addition of a socket these headsets automatically have a wider appeal than they were originally designed for. That is the idea of inclusive design."