Curb-cut effect in practice

Market penetration begins with addressing specific user groups.

The “Curb-Cut Effect” refers to designs initially intended to assist a specific group but end up benefiting a broader range of people. (Image source: Sketchplanations)

In the early 1970s, wheelchair users, Michael Pachovas and his friends, poured cement to create makeshift ramps at curbs in Berkeley, California. They simply wanted people to know getting on a curb from a street crossing is not easy for wheelchair users. Their actions, aimed at enhancing mobility for the disabled community, led the city of Berkley to install the first official curb-cut, a sloped ramp on a curb to access street crossings, at Telegraph Avenue in 1972.

This grassroots movement gained momentum, and curb cuts soon became standard features at street crossings across cities. What began as a solution for wheelchair users quickly transcended its original purpose, benefiting a wide range of individuals, including parents with strollers, people with trolleys, and scooter users.

The “Curb-Cut Effect,” a subset of Universal Design principles, highlights the phenomenon where designs or initiatives intended to benefit specific groups inadvertently improve accessibility for a broader range of people.

In this entry, I explored several examples inspired by the concept of “Curb-Cut Effect,” ranging from closed captioning and text-to-speech technology to productivity tools like Slack and everyday utilities like QR codes. Through these case studies, we’ll uncover how seemingly simple features or mechanics have helped spread beyond originally intended audiences, and some inspiring twists in the middle of technological advancement.

Closed Captioning: Hearing Impairments Aid for TV Became Essential for ESL Viewers

The Caption Center at WGBH invents broadcast captioning (Image source: A History of Captions and Audio Descriptions | WNYCstudios)

Closed captioning initially designed to assist individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, exemplifies the Curb-Cut Effect by inadvertently benefiting a much larger audience. In the early 1970s, closed captioning emerged as a solution to provide access to television programming for individuals with hearing impairments. The concept was introduced by Dr. Arlene Friner, an educator, and Gregory Frazier, an engineer, who…