About a year ago I attended a conference that discussed how product designs impact on society, particularly on those with disabilities or the elderly.

Simple, everyday items we take for granted such as mobile phones, cameras, video cameras and other well-known household products can often present huge difficulties to physically impaired or older people.

The event highlighted the idea of universal design – this is where an environment or product can be created that can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.

Last weekend Ireland hosted its first 24-hour 'Universal Design Challenge'. This featured a number of designers, from different design backgrounds, working against the clock to produce a proposal for a new environmental element, product or service that will improve accessibility for everyone in society.

Each team had a person in the group that was experiencing noteworthy challenges in accessing their environment because of factors such as their age, size or physical difficulties.

The five teams had 24 hours to transform a brief they received in the first morning into a design that could potentially be marketable.

The problem for advocates of universal design is that many product manufactures don't understand there is a market for universally accessible products, and just design goods for themselves, thereby excluding a large percentage of consumers. Simple things such as putting silver instructional lettering on the product that is the same colour as the background are major mistakes when it comes to good and inclusive design.

It also can take many years for the universal design message to get through to the vendors who make the products.

What also happens is that emerging technologies that are usually straightforward to use become commodified and end up gaining more levels of complexity, in terms of usability, as manufacturers add more bells and whistles to attract consumers.

I've witnessed this type of problem myself.

My father is in his early 80s and has difficulty dealing with mobile phones – something most of us take for granted.

Many phones are far too small for him in terms of reading the numbers or using the keypad. When you have big, arthritic fingers these anorexic, size-zero phones are a nuisance on many fronts.

At the moment he's using an 'Emporia' mobile phone that is specifically designed for senior citizens. While he still has the odd issue with the device it is an improvement on other handsets. Its large buttons enable him to dial a number easily and the screen size means he can tell the time without squinting. It also has an emergency button that, when pressed, automatically calls a list of emergency numbers.

This is the type of product that fits well into the idea of universal design because it is easy to use and straightforward – though you might not have many hip, young things sporting it on a night out.

Screen explosion

Do you watch TV on your computer? If so you are one of the increasing numbers doing so. According to George Stormeyer, vice-president and head of video for Europe at Cisco, every year more than 10-14 million homes move towards internet TV.

Furthermore, more people watch TV and video on their PCs and mobile phones while relaxing in their leaba.

Stormeyer was speaking at the 'Explosion in Digital Content' conference held by the Telecoms Internet Federation (TIF) and Audiovisual Federation at Enterprise Ireland's offices at East Point business park in Dublin.

The Cisco VP also said that by 2010 people will see the increasing dominance of internet video, either on PCs or TV. He also posited that by 2012, 50% of all internet traffic will be video. This will require a "fundamental transformation in existing networks".

Commenting on the future of how content will be delivered, director of the Audiovisual Federation Tommy McCabe said: "With 2012 set as the target date for digital switchover, it is critical that Ireland prepares for this fundamental change. The increased takeup of digital TV will mean greater availability of content for consumers across all platforms, with new and evolving technologies such as IPTV, mobile TV and video on demand transforming the traditional model of broadcasting."

As you can imagine, delivering content by different providers across multiple platforms will mean a huge burden on Ireland's telecommunications infrastructure, particularly the broadband network, and it is here, it was noted at the conference, that Ireland could fall down, with its infrastructure insufficient to carry the explosion in digital content. If this is to be the case then Ireland will definitely be an island outside the digital stream rather than in it.