The Role of Information Design within the Special Needs Population
A Caregiver's Perspective
By Nicole R.
Just a Brief Information...
In the text, An Introduction to Information Design, the authors state that well before early versions of writing in Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C. images were used as a way to communicate for thousands of years (Coates, page 2). People have presented many examples of information design in interesting ways. From its earliest forms, the use of pictures, and later, words have been used to convey messages. Sometimes they were warnings, while we could see many others as just a simple missive to the masses who would come later to declare "I was here". But oftentimes, we neglect to really understand how this communicative art form serves a population of people who may not always understand language in the same vein that you or I do..
With the rising number of people within the special needs sector, many of them have visual, auditory, or intellectual impairments which affect their ability to function in the safest, most self-assured ways possible. In my opinion, that is where the novel concepts and ever-evolving innovations of information design shine its brightest. As Plato said in 'Republic' by Socrates, "Our need will be the real creator" meaning that necessity is the mother of all inventions.
So throughout this blog, we will examine how information design has grown to encompass not just the able-bodied, but those we tend to overlook- however unintentional it may be- when designing various systems to enhance our complicated world.
- Coates, Kathryn, and Andy Ellison. Introduction to Information Design, Laurence King Publishing, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/empire-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1876178.
