Designing for extra-ordinary users

Design of aids for people with disabilities has often been seen as offering little or no intellectual challenge, addressing small unprofitable markets and being dominated by home-made systems. This lack of interest in a significant section of the population (10%-20%) has been detrimental to technical provision in this area, and to engineering design in general. Demographic trends, clearly show that an increasing proportion of the population are, and will be old and/or disabled, and an increasing proportion of the population will require technological assistance in order that they may be able to preserve a reasonable life style at an affordable cost. The author states that not only is there a moral imperative to produce equipment from which all sections of the population can benefit, but that there is a commercial one as well