The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes access to information as a human right. This convention was ratified by 180 countries including the U.S. The I-See-U blueprint aims to provide that access in a qualitatively equal manner for all persons.
Accessible Design is the technical minimum accommodation required by laws such as the Americans With Disabilities Act. It allows for the separation of the disabled from their abled counterparts when consuming media. Designers are inadvertently encouraged, to create separate and unequal experiences. Accessible design is, however, far better than non-accessible design.
The universal design approach goes beyond the technical requirements for the accommodation of persons with disabilities and towards their full participation in the ongoing social fabric of the world in which we all live. Universal design allows people of all abilities to experience media together, at the same time, in the same place, on the same channel. Universal design integrates accessibility features in a way fully-sensed persons can also benefit. Research has shown that optimizing technical attainability, sensory responsiveness, and cognitive load improves learning and retention for all sensory abilities.