Weighted blankets becoming popular among abled folks was compared elsewhere in the replies to the curb cut effect.

And this has gotten me thinking (again) about how we tend to frame the curb cut effect as inherently positive, and erase the ways in which it can be harmful. https://twitter.com/alexhaagaard/status/1263064532957659136

The curb cut effect describes what happens when something that has been designed to be used by a group of disabled people ends up benefitting “everyone” (or at least, a much wider group of users than it was originally intended for).

It’s often used as a validation of design processes that are led by the needs of disabled users.

But what actually happens when these designs become “for everyone”?

Well, let’s look at curb cuts.

Curb cuts are great for everyone! People using strollers, cyclists, people with rolling suitcases and briefcases.

They’re also just more comfortable for a lot of pedestrians, whether or not they have gait differences, mobility problems or chronic pain.

What does a curb cut need in order to work well for all these people? It...needs to be sloped. That’s pretty much it. Probably shouldn’t be too steep and should be free from large cracks, holes or dramatically uneven tiles.

As a (manual) wheelchair user, here are some of the additional things I need for a curb cut to be safe & functional (never mind comfortable):

- bottom of curb cut needs to be level with pavement
- direction curb cut is angled in needs to match the direction I’ll be crossing

- no gap between poured concrete of curb and pavement of road
- adequate space on sidewalk to change direction once I’m level
- absence of visual barriers near curb cut, blocking drivers’ view of me

There are probably more but these are the ones that come immediately to mind when thinking about the curb cuts nearest my building, where I’ve tipped myself out of my chair twice in the past month trying to navigate them while avoiding oncoming traffic

When designs that were originally meant to serve disabled people become “for everyone,” disabled people and their specific needs as users often end up getting erased.