The Anthropometrics of Disability - Designing Accessible Communities

• Strength is a critical variable in reaching ability. It is important to understand
the relationship of weight of object being moved and strength to task
performance.
• Free reach may not be too useful to measure because people are always
using or grasping objects while they reach. However, even free reach must
overcome gravity so strength always plays a role. This suggests the need to
measure the body and body segment mass to understand reach in a
biomechanical context.
• Research should take into consideration “functional” reach posture. For
example, static and relaxed positions may be more appropriate for
measuring functional reach than extended postures. Head movement in
functional tasks is often overlooked but it can play an important role,
especially if the task involves eye-hand coordination.
• Studies of reaching abilities and grasping tasks for people with disabilities
should accommodate different methods of reaching, including two handed
reach as well as one handed reach, the use of one hand to brace the other
or the use of a wheelchair to stabilize the body while reaching.
• The fact that people may not be fully independent should be recognized in
research. When selecting samples or reporting results, independent
populations should be separated from dependent populations.
3. BETTER ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Discussion on this theme focused on organizing knowledge with a view toward
making it more useable in design practice. Participants were concerned with the
organization of the existing knowledge base as well as new knowledge that will be
generated by future research. The recommendations include approaches to
organizing research data and findings as well as the form of design criteria.
Recommendations included ideas for organizing data for improving our knowledge
base and access to research findings:
• Existing technical standards are rigid and incomplete. Performance criteria
could be developed for design based on person, environment, tasks and
level of assistance to be provided. This approach would be richer and more
useful.
• There is a need to review current literature and research as well as past
comparisons of existing studies. While Bruce Bradtmiller completed a
comparative report, it would be very useful to hold a seminar where the
existing work could be discussed further by a broader group of experts that
includes designers, human modelers and others.
The Anthropometrics of Disability | 26