Report Issued from Board Sponsored Study on Wheeled Mobility August 18, 2005

A report, Standards and Anthropometry for Wheeled Mobility, is now available from a study commissioned by the Board on wheeled mobility. The report was prepared by the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) at the State University of New York at Buffalo and is available on its website.

The IDEA Center is undertaking a major multi-year project to collect human measures data on people who use wheeled mobility aids. Started in 1999, this work will continue at least through 2006. The research team is gathering data at various locations across the U.S. to ensure a representative sample.

According to Dr. Edward Steinfeld, Project Director, sufficient data has been collected to start a dialogue on some of the findings, which suggest that current U.S. standards may not be adequate for today's population.

The report reviews research conducted in other countries (Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada) and its influence on their access standards. The comparative analysis developed for this report provides a framework for the future comparison of research findings and standards and offers a foundation for improving the utilization of research for standards development. The analysis highlights the importance of integrating research with standards development, organizing international research collaborations, and developing international standards, all of which the IDEA Center is helping to advance with support from the Board in addition to its ongoing work collecting human measures data.

The report and related materials are available on the IDEA Center's website in a variety of formats (HTML, Word, PDF).