The Future of Education

Abstract: Universal accessibility is a major concern in developed countries, especially in cities. However, there is considerable confusion about the meaning of this concept whose definition varies from one author to another, and none covers all dimensions identified by all the texts. There are also many proposals, more or less articulated, of different types of design for its achievement. The Committee of Montreal for Study of Universal Accessibility, which includes researchers and representatives of community organizations and a representative of the Directorate of the social diversity of the City of Montreal, led the work to clarify the concepts at the basis of this synthesis. This paper proposes a formal definition of universal accessibility based on a selection method and content analysis of the most relevant references. This analysis sought to identify precisely the nature of the concept and its various dimensions, and to dress a list of evaluation criteria. The same procedure was carried out to define the types of design contributing to the universal accessibility and to propose a classification in an evolutionary process. These clarifications are proposed as the basis for the development of an interdisciplinary, multisectoral and multidimensional approach of universal accessibility. Finally, the problems of the evaluation are underlined.

Those clarifications are very important in the field of éducation for all the creators of adapted material, techniques, procédures to help students with cognitive disabilities. Those clarifications open the field to all educators preoccupated by inclusive pratices.