ODEI Explores Universal Design in Honor of Disability Pride Month

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — July 7, 2025) In celebration of Disability Pride Month, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion invites all members of the university community to explore the power of universal design (UD) in this month’s Reason & Respect: Unplugged! Join us in honoring disability pride by reading the Q&A below and sharing your reflections, questions, and experiences on our community discussion board. 

Universal design is a proactive approach that shapes workplaces, events, products, and learning environments to be accessible and inclusive—without requiring individuals to disclose a disability or request accommodations. By embracing universal design in the workplace, we create a community of belonging where people feel supported and uplifted in their work. 

In this article, Sine Rofofsky, Lindsay Infantino, and Aley O’Mara will share their perspectives. 

About the Interviewees:

Sine Rofofsky, Ph.D., is a returning student at Empire State University majoring in human services. They are passionate about DEI and have been involved in the Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports (CAARES) as a peer mentor. With a background in education, they bring a thoughtful and engaged perspective to conversations around UD. In their free time, they enjoy reading cozy mysteries.   

Lindsay Infantino is a digital accessibility coordinator at SUNY Empire with previous experience in disability advocacy and as a writing instructor and tutor. Lindsay holds graduate degrees in creative writing and in higher education disability services, with research interests in disability studies and applications of universal design in academia and beyond. 

Aley O’Mara is the program associate and training coordinator for CAARES. They are autistic and have a collection of other neurodivergent and chronic illness experiences. 

What makes a workplace accessible to you? 

Sine: A workplace is accessible in two ways. The first is that it follows universal design so there is not as much to ask for in terms of it becoming accessible. Having to self-advocate is difficult: It ‘labels’ me; it can make me feel like I’m making others jealous (whether or not they are); I have to ‘justify’ why I need this accessibility accommodation; and I’m not always sure what I need. [Second,] when I do need to ask [for an accommodation], there’s an easy process and I’m not made to feel [like] ‘a burden’ or defensive. 

Lindsay: Flexibility, transparency, clear communication, and a good combination of trust and support are all accessibility considerations that I really value. But what is accessible for one person may not be accessible for another, so options become very important. An accessible workplace can take many different shapes. It can look like providing flexibility in schedules or opportunities to work on-site or from home. It can look like having conversations with employees about how they work best and what they need (or don’t need). It can mean offering comfortable office furniture that is supportive of a variety of bodies, or making sure products or materials are accessible to the employees who will be using them. It can mean offering multiple methods of communication to a colleague, describing visuals in presentations, or proactively providing captioning and interpreters at events. 

Aley: I chose a unionized remote work setting intentionally: I benefit from being able to curate my own physical workspace with minimal in-person interruptions to meet my autistic needs. 

What steps can be taken by individuals, colleagues, and supervisors to make the workplace more accessible? 

Sine: Follow UD principles from the beginning—be proactive, not reactive. Understand that people have different needs/preferences. 

Lindsay: [There are] two very simple but important steps that individuals can take. The first step is to always assume you may have a disabled colleague, student, instructor, supervisor, friend, family member, etc. If you assume disabled people are always in your audience, whether they tell you or not, then it becomes crucial to consider ways to make environments as accessible as possible by thinking through universal design principles and putting them into action. The second step is to listen (really listen) to disabled people when they say what they need or what is not working for them, and to believe them. 

Aley: Assume everyone you’re working with has access needs and ask upfront about how you can best communicate with colleagues! 

What are some elements of universal design in the workplace that often go unrecognized as universal design? 

Sine: UD in the workplace includes things as simple as elevators or stairs, automatic doors, shelving that is reachable without step stools, eye-level signs and displays [that people can see] while seated, adjustable seating, a variety of input devices, text-to-speech and speech-to-text [options], flex time, agendas before and minutes after meetings, materials available in print or electronic [formats], captioning, larger print/easier to read fonts, adjustable lighting, chair/desk options, adjustable height tables, and high contrast. 

Lindsay: Things like affordable health insurance, generous sick and vacation time, and fostering a culture where people are encouraged to take care of themselves are also examples of universal design. To push it even further, universal design in the workplace can also look like, where possible, giving an employee extra time to complete a project, just as an instructor might give a student an extension on an assignment. It can also look like evaluating quality over quantity of work, or working with employees to develop achievable goals specific to their strengths rather than relying on standardized performance metrics. 

Aley: I find performance programs to be a helpful access tool that is already built into our workplace. The collaborative process for filling it out helps me understand my role and my supervisor’s expectations in a clear and empowering way. My performance program is a great reference that helps both as a memory aid and as a way to keep my impulsive eagerness for new challenges in check! 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Lindsay: The term universal design can be misleading, because it doesn’t need to and shouldn’t be about creating a universal ideal environment where everyone’s access needs are perfectly met; that’s impossible. But what it is about is thinking through some of the most common accessibility barriers and, as much as possible, designing things to avoid those barriers from the beginning. It’s also about rejecting ableism and the ideas that environments should only be built with the needs of nondisabled people in mind, and only adjusted to be accessible when a disabled person asks for access through an accommodation request. 

Thank you for engaging with this conversation, and don’t forget to share your thoughts and questions on the community discussion board!