The Free Universe Education Foundation has been
active in the
promotion of universal design. Foundation chairman Dan Tang, sitting in his electric
wheelchair, holds in his right hand, which is his only
functioning hand, a
booklet with the
nominations for the last four Universal Design Awards. Next he picks up a product known as Another Hand and
demonstrates how it
enables him
to clean off a plate of food with only one hand.
An ordinary round plate but with an extra section
sticking up on one side, Another Hand helps users push their
spoons in the right direction and also
assists in collecting rice or vegetables and getting them into the spoon. Together with a
wide-handled, lightweight,
broader-than-average spoon designed in Japan to help children learn to use a spoon, Another Hand is
kitchenware that Tang takes with him everywhere. While sitting in his wheelchair and eating with these, he attracts no
shortage of strange looks, but being a
keen promoter, Tang takes these looks as chances to
extol the
virtues of universal design.
In 1991, Tang, who
suffered polio as a child, moved north from Chiayi looking for work. Starting from the age of 25, he spent time working with Eden Social Welfare Foundation, a church, and the Taipei City Government, and even unsuccessfully
ran for a
seat on the Taipei City Council before discovering the wonder of universal design online. In 2004, by his own efforts he
set up the Free Universe Education Foundation, aiming to
promote universal design and build a business on it. Asking himself how to get people to understand the idea of universal design the quickest, Tang
struck upon one answer—competitions.
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