Browsing by Subject "Accessibility"
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Item Comparing transit accessibility measures : a case study of access to healthcare facilities(2010-12) Blackmar, Carey Eileen; Bhat, Chandra R. (Chandrasekhar R.), 1964-; Walton, C. MichaelDespite the continued interest in transportation accessibility, it is still unclear how different types of accessibility measures relate to one another and which situations are best for each. The current study undertakes a statistical comparison among six transit accessibility measures (representing three main categories of accessibility models) to determine whether they are comparable and/or interchangeable. Specifically, this analysis considers a case study to measure individuals’ access to healthcare via paratransit. Results indicate that the three categories of accessibility measures provide drastically different interpretations of accessibility that cannot be duplicated by each other. Furthermore, the more closely accessibility models capture individuals’ perceptions and true access to activity opportunities, the more consistent and evenly distributed the results.Item Dynamic traffic assignment-based modeling paradigms for sustainable transportation planning and urban development(2014-05) Shah, Rohan Jayesh; Boyles, Stephen David, 1982-Transportation planning and urban development in the United States have synchronously emerged over the past few decades to encompass goals associated with sustainability, improved connectivity, complete streets and mitigation of environmental impacts. These goals have evolved in tandem with some of the relatively more traditional objectives of supply-side improvements such as infrastructure and capacity expansion. Apart from the numerous federal regulations in the US transportation sector that reassert sustainability motivations, metropolitan planning organizations and civic societies face similar concerns in their decision-making and policy implementation. However, overall transportation planning to incorporate these wide-ranging objectives requires characterization of large-scale transportation systems and traffic flow through them, which is dynamic in nature, computationally intense and a non-trivial problem. Thus, these contemporary questions lie at the interface of transportation planning, urban development and sustainability planning. They have the potential of being effectively addressed through state-of-the-art transportation modeling tools, which is the main motivation and philosophy of this thesis. From the research standpoint, some of these issues have been addressed in the past typically from the urban design, built-environment, public health and vehicle technology and mostly qualitative perspectives, but not as much from the traffic engineering and transportation systems perspective---a gap in literature which the thesis aims to fill. Specifically, it makes use of simulation-based dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) to develop modeling paradigms and integrated frameworks to seamlessly incorporate these in the transportation planning process. In addition to just incorporating them in the planning process, DTA-based paradigms are able to accommodate numerous spatial and temporal dynamics associated with system traffic, which more traditional static models are not able to. Besides, these features are critical in the context of the planning questions of this study. Specifically, systemic impacts of suburban and urban street pattern developments typically found in US cities in past decades of the 20th century have been investigated. While street connectivity and design evolution is mostly regulated through local codes and subdivision ordinances, its impacts on traffic and system congestion requires modeling and quantitative evidence which are explored in this thesis. On the environmental impact mitigation side, regional emission inventories from the traffic sector have also been quantified. Novel modeling approaches for the street connectivity-accessibility problem are proposed. An integrated framework using the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory MOVES model has been developed, combining it with mesoscopic-level DTA simulation. Model demonstrations and applications on real and large-sized study areas reveal that different levels of connectivity and accessibility have substantial impacts on system-wide traffic---as connectivity levels reduce, traffic and congestion metrics show a gradually increasing trend. As regards emissions, incorporation of dynamic features leads to more realistic emissions inventory generation compared to default databases and modules, owing to consideration of the added dynamic features of system traffic and region-specific conditions. Inter-dependencies among these sustainability planning questions through the common linkage of traffic dynamics are also highlighted. In summary, the modeling frameworks, analyses and findings in the thesis contribute to some ongoing debates in planning studies and practice regarding ideal urban designs, provisions of sustainability and complete streets. Furthermore, the integrated emissions modeling framework, in addition to sustainability-related contributions, provides important tools to aid MPOs and state agencies in preparation of state implementation plans for demonstrating conformity to national ambient air-quality standards in their regions and counties. This is a critical condition for them to receive federal transportation funding.Item Foregrounding accessibility for user experience design(2015-05) Sandhu, Amanjot Kaur; Lee, Gloria; Bias, RandolphI am interested in creating generative tools and techniques for designing accessible user experiences for end users. As a user experience designer, I am working on embracing the web accessibility standards and guidelines and including them from the beginning of the User Experience (UX) design process. My projects are directed at facilitating design students and professionals to understand two things: that the broad concept of web accessibility is important, and how they can embed web accessibility into the UX design process at a very early stage. To do this, I used different media (website, posters and videos etc.) to create awareness and educate designers in an interesting, simple and engaging way. In this report, I will discuss the definition and role of accessible design, identify limitations in existing tools and methods, and demonstrate how future designers might research, prototype, analyze, and implement their designs for all users.Item "Queer Radio with Attitude": Digitizing Houston's LGBT Broadcast History(Texas Digital Library, 2023-05-18) Vinson, Emily; Scott, BethanyIn 2020, the University of Houston Libraries was awarded an NEH grant to digitize and make accessible 40 years of Houston’s LGBTQ radio and television history, totaling over 3,500 hours. The project brings together several broadcast collections through a post-custodial collaboration with the Gulf Coast Archive and Museum of GLBT History. Decades before issues like trans visibility or intersectionality entered the mainstream, these radio and TV programs provided a platform for marginalized voices. In the hands of researchers, this data set reveals how one city's LGBTQ community grew and organized with the help of media. In this presentation, we will describe the contents of the collections, highlighting the unique opportunities and challenges presented by a large-scale, post-custodial AV archive from an underrepresented community (during a pandemic). In particular we will discuss our approach to redacting music under copyright, generating and providing access to captions or transcripts for each recording, and describing thousands of unique recordings for publication on our digital library.Item Session 3B | Bias in Online Library Collections Searches(Texas Digital Library, 2022-05-25) Hetrick, EmmaThe main issue of this one hour workshop will be biases in library digital collection catalog searches. I will begin by analyzing the Harry Ransom Center’s digital collections within the context of critical archival studies, critical Internet studies, critical race studies, and search engine studies. My aim is to identify how the "search" function of these collections operates, and determine how well it provides relevant results for searches about identity. This study is modeled on Safiya Noble’s Google searches in her book Algorithms of Oppression. I conclude that the “search feature” is limited in yielding relevant results, and furthermore, that the digital images in the database are not labeled in a manner to yield more desirable results. This research contributes to several of the efforts described in the HRC's Diversity Action Plan, and I hope will provide actionable recommendations to increase the accessibility, inclusivity, and representation of the HRC's collections and the way they are described online. To that end, I want to open the conversation to workshop participants and their experiences with searching library catalogs in an effort to brainstorm changes that can be made to these catalogs. No prior knowledge or experience is required, but attendees will be encouraged to try some searches of their own either before or during the workshop.Item Smallholder livelihoods and market accessibility in the Peruvian Amazon(2013-05) Cardozo, Mario Luis; Crews, Kelley A.; Young, Kenneth R.Abstract: This study examines how differential accessibility to regional markets and natural resources affects smallholder livelihoods in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon, particularly in terms of household income diversification or specialization. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to semi-structured smallholder household (N = 319) and community leader interview data collected in 40 communities in 2006-2007, in addition to change detection performed on Landsat satellite imagery (1987, 1993, and 2001). First, the dissertation explores changes in smallholder land use patterns across the study region during a period of profound macroeconomic changes and continual urbanization, finding that overall land use trends of agricultural abandonment reflected national reductions in agrarian subsidies. Second, based on interview data, household processes of income diversification and specialization were analyzed in two sections of the study area, the Itaya and Nanay basins. In the Itaya Basin, it was observed that smallholder livelihood specialization was aided by road development increasing transportation accessibility to important regional markets. In the more isolated Nanay Basin, livelihood choices were found to be influenced by processes of livelihood displacement caused by conservation efforts, in addition to remoteness and river seasonality. This study concludes by reflecting on the importance of the spatial relations of access to resources and markets in the region and in similar places in the developing tropics. This kind of information can help make national and regional policy decisions on such issues such as conservation, agrarian credits, road development, which may differentially affect smallholder livelihoods and their environments.Item Sustainable residences: co-operative housing redesign in high density central area of Xiamen(2014) Jia, Cheng, M. of Architecture; Pyrek, AdamToday, the multi-families housing is recognized as vital to modern, urban communities. And it is primary housing type in some megacities, especially in high-density area. As a developed modern city with great historical urban context, Xiamen offers a great range of fascinating examples regarding creative co-operative housing projects dealing with current challenges such as rising rents, changes in climate and demography, privatization and individualization. There are quite a lot community-oriented housing projects. At the same time, Some out-dated housing units in Xiamen used to be inhumane and unhealthy, and promote isolated living experiences both physically and mentally. So a household redesign for a healthy individual, harmonious family and friendly community is becoming a pressing need. Xiamen Social Housing Innovations Plan include multi-generational, barrier-free and affordable renovations, plus-energy communities of existing buildings,etc. The aim of this proposal is to create a housing development design that rebuilds the community of the neighborhood by allowing a greater sharing of public and private space, while maintaining and gaining a higher population density. The design proposal will preserve the indigenous fine-grained urban fabric, which creates human scale and supports the public/private exchanges observed through the fieldwork and analysis. This proposal will explore housing sustainable design that reconsiders shared use of public and private in collective spaces, as the key to take advantage of a dense inner-city environment.Item Universal design : designing products that all individuals can use(2013-08) Talley, Austin Bates; Crawford, Richard H.In today's world there is a need for products and services that are accessible to all individuals. Universal Design is the concept that products and environments should be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialization. There is a growing need for such products. However, many products are not accessible to all potential customers, arguably due to a lack of experience, design tools, and engineering methods for creating universally designed products. This research compares paired products to determine the differences between "Universal Design (UD)" and "Standard" Products. For each pair of products, a functional model and activity diagram were developed and analyzed. For each product pair, the identified differences in the products were recorded in a Universal Design differences database. Through systematic analysis of the Universal Design differences database and other research in Universal Design, a set of three Handheld Universal Design Tools was created. The toolset consists of the Handheld Universal Design Checklist, The Handheld Universal Design Guidelines, and the Handheld Universal Design Matrix. These three tools are designed to be used in the concept generation phase of product design or redesign. The Handheld Universal Design Tools were evaluated using a human subjects experiment. Control and test groups were asked to generate concepts for redesigning a product. The metrics of quality, universality, laterality, senior usability and inclusivity were used to evaluate the design concepts. The results of the study suggest that Handheld Universal Design Tools assist engineers in generating design concepts appropriate for Universally Designed products. As a part of the research, Universal Design was presented to first year mechanical engineering students with pre- and post- surveys on the students' perceptions of engineering. Subsequent analysis of the surveys indicated that exposure to Universal Design affects students' perceptions of engineers' overall role in society and their capacity to help others. The Handheld Universal Design Checklist, Guidelines and Matrix represent an initial step to provide engineers with tools to create Universally Designed products.Item What is Digital Librarianship? An Interview with Daniel Alemneh(Texas Digital Library, 2021-11-29) Santiago, Chloe; Coleman, Misha; Gunnells, Ali