The following is a transcript of the video "Features to consider when designing a home for adaptability: A PCBC Conversation" :

Nigel: So Susan, we've talked about the way products are presented by manufacturers. How else can manufacturers market their product or even design their products thinking about the audience that they are gonna be serving?

Susan: I think that's a great question, as well Nigel. We're looking at being proactive in designs right? We're dependent on what the product manufacturers do. Where's the customization that products can come from a manufacturer? In this, I think a perfect example is Bestbath. They worked hard for a long time to have flexibility and adaptability with their products that they are very much about customization. So as a designer, you're looking at a space, you want a different look, you want this, you want that, Bestbath does that. And they've won awards to do so. You know the designer series for the 90-degree shower corner piece, for example, we need manufacturers that get it and that understand universal design and apply it all the way through their company.

So all the way from the initial design concept through the end user and how to integrate that knowledge base through customer service and people who are out marketing. And so I think manufacturers have to understand that getting on-board with universal design and really studying every single thing that comes in in a concept is that with the closed fist system. The closed fist system is where we use that for everything operationally in the environment. So can I do the door lever hardware? Can I turn on the valve for the shower?

Nigel: Using your elbows.

Beth: Using the elbow. How can I open up the drawer cabinet pulls? Using a closed fist is not requiring grasping, pinching, or twisting. So if manufacturers use the basic principles, we would see more products that fit the universal design spectrum.