In this complicated world that we live in, the playground Is a safe and common place for hillier to come together, to discover the value of play, to learn about each other, to recognize their saltcellars and differences, to meet physical and social challenges, to leave comfort zones and evolve into the little young people they are meant to be. It Is a microcosm for life lessons, from challenge and risk to conflict resolution and cooperation.When we design for these purposes and apply the Principles of universal Design, we design for inclusive play where every child, regardless of ability or disability, is welcomed and benefits physically, developmentally, emotionally and socially from the environment.

Unfortunately, since the release of the Accessibility Guidelines for Play Areas (October 2000), the task of designing accessible playgrounds has become a numbers game. Count: ; How many ground level play activities? How many accessible ground level play activities? ; How many elevated play activities? How many elevated play activities are accessible by transfer systems? How many elevated play castles are accessible by ramp? ; Towed have to have a ramp? That costs morel! Let's just take away a couple activities" Whew, we only need to have a transfer step now!! Design creativity has been ousted, replaced by confusion and complacency in the quest to meet the minimum accessibility guidelines. Herein lies the problem. When the planning team only shoots to meet the minimum requirements, play value is ignored and our children lose out in the process.

Designing fun and creative placeless that are accessible to children with disabilities does not need to be a numbers game.If we apply the Principles of Universal Design, using a human- entered design approach, we can create environments with play value that benefit children of all abilities. Accessible Design vs..

Universal Design Before we explore the application of universal Design on the playground, It Is Important to understand the Principles of universal Design and the difference building, facility, or portion thereof that complies with the minimum accessibility standards as set forth under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Architectural Barriers Act or local building code.Accessible Design has the distinct purpose of eating the environmental and communication needs of the functional limitations of people with disabilities. Accessible design aims at minimum requirements to achieve usability. Universal Design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design (Center for Universal Design, 1997).

The term Universal Design was first coined by architect and advocate Ron Mace, who was the Director of the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University.While Accessible Design is focused on the needs of people with disabilities, Universal Design considers the wide spectrum of human abilities. It aims to exceed minimum standards to meet the needs of the greatest number of people. The Principles of Universal Design were developed by a consortium of universal design researchers and practitioners. The seven principles and their respective guidelines are presented in the offset text box. The discussion which follows gives examples of the application of the Principles of Universal Design to the public playground environment.