Hello, my name's Mrs. Fletcher, and I'm really pleased to welcome you to today's design and technology lesson.

Today's lesson is called "Accessible Textile Products" and it's part of the Combining Fabrics Accessible Textiles Unit.

In this lesson, we'll get to find out what an accessible textile product is and learn why the design process is an important part of making sure a textile product is accessible.

So let's have a look at what we'll be learning about today.

The outcome of today's lesson is I can define the needs of a user within a design specification.

So we'll be looking at how putting the user at the centre of the design decisions that we make and thinking about their needs when it comes to an accessible textile product can help us to write a design specification that will be successful in creating a truly accessible textile product.

There are some key words that we are going to need in today's lesson, so let's have a look at those together before we get started.

So first of all, we've got that word accessible.

Can you repeat that after me? Accessible.

Well done.

And that means, simply means, it's easy to use, something that is easy to use.

It comes from that root word access, which means to get into, to get to, to be able to use.

So accessible is something that is easy to use.

Then we've got the word specifications.

Can you repeat that after me? Specifications.

Well done.

And in design terms, the specifications are a list of things that a product must have or must do.

So it's the things we need to consider when we're designing a product.

Then we've got the word empathy.

Again, this is a very important word in today's lesson.

Can you repeat that after me? Empathy.

Well done.

And empathy means to understand others' feelings and experiences.

And that's something we need to do if we are going to be designing a product with the user in mind, designing a product that solves a problem for them, we need to be able to understand things from their point of view.

Then we've got the word user.

So you can repeat that after me.

User.

Well done.

And the user refers to the person that you are designing a product for.

The person is going to be using it when it is ultimately being made.

And then we've got the word utility.

Can you repeat that? Utility.

Well done.

And we're going to use that in today's lesson to describe something that is useful and functional.

So something that does a job.

Okay.

So let's have a look at how today's lesson is going to be broken down.

So we're going to start off by looking at some accessible textile products and really understanding what those are and how they are designed and how design is important to how those products function.

And then we're going to move on to the second part of the lesson where we'll be looking at design specifications for an accessible textile product.

So let's get started by looking at some accessible textile products.

Some textile products that we have around us every day are designed to look good or to follow fashion trends.

So things that we put in our house like cushions, things like that and things that we wear, our clothes, are sometimes just designed to look good, designed to follow trends and to be chosen for the way that they look.

But sometimes textile products can also be designed to provide a practical solution to problems. So they solve a problem as well as looking good.

So this example is reusable cloth nappies.

So they were designed to solve the problem of waste from disposable nappies that are thrown away after each use.

So these are reusable cloth nappies that can be washed and used again.

So the problem that they solve is reducing waste going into landfill.

Accessible textile products, so there's that key word, accessible, are products that are designed to be easy to use by everyone.

So products like we've already mentioned, have a user in mind when we design them, but accessible textile products have to really drill down into what a user needs in order to make that product accessible to as many people as possible.

So there's no barriers to anybody using a product.

Designers have empathy for the user.

So there's that second important keyword, that word empathy.

And that's by thinking about and considering the experiences and feelings of the user who will use their product.

When they're doing their designing, they can meet the needs of the user and make a successful product that can be accessed by them.

And Sam here is giving us a way of helping us understand that word empathy.

So she's saying it's like putting yourself in someone else's shoes.

So it's imagining what it would be like to be them in their situation and how you would use a product and what problems you might have if you were to have the same needs as the user that you're considering.

So it's like putting yourself in someone else's shoes, seeing it from somebody else's point of view.

So quick check then just to make sure we understand that key word.

What does that word empathy mean? Is it understanding others' feelings, is it feeling sorry for someone, or is it ignoring someone's needs? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it's understanding other people's feelings.

So putting yourself in their shoes to understand how they would feel or their experiences in a certain situation.

Accessible textile products can be made to address very specific needs for individual users so that sometimes a product doesn't need to be able to be accessed by everybody.

It's designed with very specific in mind.

So if you think of something like a weighted blanket, not everybody needs a weighted blanket and it's designed to suit people who might suffer from anxiety or insomnia and need that kind of product to help them to feel less anxious or to help them to sleep.

So it doesn't need to be accessible to everybody because it addresses a particular need as with something like adaptive clothing.

So adaptive clothing needs to suit the needs of the user who's wearing it.

So it might be made specifically for an amputee.

So someone who's lost a leg or both legs or arms. The clothes are designed specifically to fit them, so not everybody would need to access those products.

So they're designed specifically to suit the individuals who will be using them.

Again, something like slip on shoes.

So this is something that everybody could access, but they would might be designed with a certain person in mind.

So somebody with reduced mobility.

So they might have trouble bending, reaching down to shoes, might have reduced mobility in their hands or fingers to help them fasten shoe laces.

Or they might have something like arthritis in their fingers which can mean that they can't use shoe laces as easily as as everyone else, so they might need an accessible product like that.

But that is something that could be used by lots of different types of people.

There are some other examples of accessible textile products that we can look at where the user has been the centre of the design.

So the product's been designed to meet the needs of that user primarily.

So something like clothing that's been made using sensory friendly fabrics or processes, those are made to address the needs of a user who has a sensory issue.

So it could be a sensory issue through something like autism or it could be a sensory skin issue through something like eczema.

And they might not be able to access standard clothing products that would irritate their skin or irritate their senses.

So these clothing pieces are designed to eliminate that problem and to address that need.

So they might remove the labels, they might produce it using flat seams so that don't rub against the skin and those are specific needs for that user.

A magnetic closure is widely used in accessible textile clothing because they provide a much easier access way to fasten or open and close to certain types of clothing and accessories.

So anybody who has any kind of barrier to using standard clothing closures or accessory closures could use these kind of closures as a way to access the products more easily.

And something like accessories for mobility aid.

So people who use a mobility aid like a wheelchair or a walking frame might have barriers to using products like backpacks or standard bags and they might need a product that's been adapted to be accessible to them so they can use them with those products that they have to use in everyday life, like the wheelchairs and the walking frames.

So by using thoughtful design, so by thinking about the design of their products, accessible textile products can be made to be accessible for everyone.

So they don't have to meet a specific need.

They can meet a general wide range of needs so that as many people as possible can use them.

So if you think about simply adapting a fastener, so if we take a a zip product and we add an additional tab onto the zip tab, like you can see here an additional piece of leather added onto the zip tab, it immediately makes that fastener more accessible to more people.

It doesn't mean that people with no barriers to using a zip can't use it, it just means that it opens up to far more people being able to use that product with just that simple adaptation added on.

Creating a simple design is an easy way to make a product accessible.

So by reducing the amount of elements or components in a product, reducing the amount of difficult fasteners or straps or adjusters on a product can help make it more accessible to more people.

So a simple design can make a product more accessible.

Simply by making a product easy to use by not overcomplicating it, not adding features that are not necessary, not adding too many components to a product can just open it up to being easy to use for a whole range of different types of people in their everyday life.

Quick check then before we move on.

What does that word accessible mean? So it's a key word in today's lesson and these pupils have been discussing how they would define that word accessible.

So who do you agree with? So Sam is saying that that word accessible means something has a use or a function.

Lucas is saying that that word accessible means something is easy to use.

And Laura is saying that the word accessible means that something is fashionable.

So who do you think has got that definition of the word accessible correct? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

What did you think? Who did you agree with? Well done if you said Lucas.

So Lucas has got quite a good definition, a good understanding of what that word accessible means by saying that it means that something is easy to use.

So that's exactly right.

It means a product is easy to use.

Well done if you've got that right as well.

So let's have a look at this product then.

So quite a regular product that we see every day, particularly if you're in school and you're wearing these as part of your uniform.

What makes this product accessible though? So what makes it, as Lucas has just reminded us, easy to use.

Pause the video and have a think or talk to a partner, makes some notes.

What do you think makes this product accessible to users? Welcome back.

So what did you think? You may have said something like that the chunky design makes them easy to use.

It's a simple design so they're easy to put on and off.

Or you may have mentioned something about the fastener that's been used on this product.

So you can see it's a hook and loop fastener, which is a fastener that's quite accessible to a lot of people.

It's not too fiddly, it's easy to use for young children.

It's easy to use for people with mobility issues.

So it's accessible to a wide range of people through its design and through the fastener that was chosen as part of that design process.

Who might use this product then? So we are thinking about what makes it accessible, but who might be the key users of this type of product? Pause the video and talk to your partner and have a think about who might use this product.

Welcome back.

What did you think? So if you're thinking about the user of this product, we might say that anybody could use this product, but if we were thinking about a particular user, it might be particularly useful for someone who has arthritis.

So they might struggle with shoe laces or other types of fasteners on shoes.

It might be useful for very young children who have not learned how to fasten shoe laces yet, or anybody with reduced mobility.

So that means they can't move as easy as other people, they need to be able to quickly put on their shoes, quickly fasten them without overly complicated components that make it difficult for them.

So it's true that it is an accessible product for everyone, but there may still be some key users that would find it most beneficial to use.

Well done if you had any of those ideas.

Time for a task then.

So let's have a look at what I would like you to do at this part of the lesson.

So I want you to have a think about and maybe a chat to your partner about what makes this product accessible.

So we've seen this product before in the lesson, earlier in the lesson, this backpack product.

I want you to think about what makes it accessible, what makes it easy to use by a range of people? So you might consider how it opens, how it's fastened, how it's carried, and who might use it and what they're using it for, and discuss with your partner or have a think about what makes it accessible.

Once you've done that, I want you to think about how it could be made even more accessible.

So what could be changed or adapted in this product to make it open to be used by even more people? So you'll discuss how it already is accessible, but then think about how it could be improved even further to open up the number of people that will be able to use it easily.

Pause the video while you complete that task and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

So hopefully you managed to have a good discussion about the accessibility of that product and how it could be improved even further.

So you may have noticed some of the features of the product.

So you may have discussed something about the wide opening, which makes it easier to get in and out or easier to put things in, get things in and out of the bag.

You might have discussed a simple design that the product has.

So there was nothing too fussy, nothing too complicated about the design of that product.

It used flaps as a way of closing the openings on the bag, which is a simple design.

It had simple fastness, so they had snap buttons to close those flaps and it had adjustable straps.

So it can be used by a range of different users, depending on their needs.

If we're thinking specifically about the users of the product, there's quite a lot of people who could access this product.

So people with young children might find it useful to be able to carry around the things they need for the young child.

And it means they could use it with one hand if they're holding onto a baby or a small child.

People with reduced hand movements might find it useful because it's got those big flaps, those simple fasteners wide openings.

There's nothing too fiddly to use on that product.

Wheelchair users or walking aid users might be able to use this quite easily because it could be put on the back of a wheelchair, it could be carried on the back to keep the hands free for using with a walking aid or for use for moving the wheels on their wheelchair.

People with a visual impairment might also find it useful because the design is simple.

They can locate the pockets and the fasteners quite easily.

There's nothing too complicated about the design that might stop them from using it successfully.

If we're thinking about how it could be made more accessible, then you may have noticed or spoke about the types of fasteners that we use.

So snap buttons are quite a simple fastener, but they could be simplified even further to make them easier to use by more people.

So something like a hook and loop fastener or a magnetic closure like we saw earlier on in the lesson would be even simpler to use, even more accessible to a range of people.

They could also adjust the straps so they were quite thin straps, which if they were wider, could be more accessible to people because if someone needed to keep it secure on their back, the wider straps would help to do that.

If they needed to hook it over the back of a wheelchair or a walking frame, wider straps would help to do that.

Or if somebody had reduced mobility in their hands or reduced grip in their hands, then those wider straps would make it easier for those to hold on for them to hold onto those as well.

So there are always ways we can make a product more accessible.

Well done if you discussed any of those things.

So it's time to move on to the second part of the lesson now.

So here we're gonna be thinking about writing a design specification for an accessible textile product, putting the user at the centre of our design process to make sure that the accessible product meets their needs as well as being accessible to a range of people as well.

So design specifications define how a product will look and how it will perform.

So that's a part of the design process is to think about those things.

But when we are thinking about design specifications for an accessible product, we need to make a list of the user specific needs.

We need to put that user at the centre of our thoughts in order to inform the design we are going to make.

And we need to use our empathy, it's that key word empathy, to put ourselves in the user's shoes and to think about what they need from the product in order to be able to use it successfully.

And when we consider those needs, we can consider how we can address the needs and we can design a product that addresses those needs and solves the problem for the user.

A utility belt is an example of a useful accessible product.

So we have that word utility as a key word.

It means something that is useful, something that's helpful to somebody.

So a utility belt is a product that is designed to be helpful or useful for somebody.

So here you can see in this example a typical utility belt has some kind of belt and fastener and then it has a range of pouches or pockets attached to them in some way that are designed to perform or be used for certain tasks.

It's designed to wear around the waist or over the shoulder, or it can be adapted to suit a range of users and purposes.

So the types of pockets that are on it can be changed quite easily to suit a range of different uses.

The types of things you might typically use a utility belt for might be storing medication so you get easy access to it.

So someone might need their medications with them to carry with them all the time, and keeping them in a kind of utility belt means that they're there, easy, ready to use whenever they need them.

They might also be used for keeping money and personal possessions safe.

So keeping it close to you, keeping it close by.

Or it might be used simply to store our whole tools or accessories when you're going about a task.

So whether it's a hobby or a gardening task or a DIY task, it's a useful product to keep the things that you need with you ready to use while you complete that task.

So a range of uses for that type of product.

A quick check then before we move on.

Which of these would be a synonym for the word utility? So remember, a synonym means a word that means the same kind of thing.

So it's a similar meaning word.

So with thinking about utility, does it mean it's useful, fashionable, or worthless? So which of those words is a similar meaning to the word utility? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it's useful? So we're talking about a utility belt being a useful product, and that word utility means useful or functional.

To write a design specification for an accessible utility belt, we must empathise with the user.

So we must think about the specific person or the specific type of people who are going to use this product and what they're going to use it for, and we need to empathise or imagine the barriers that they might have to using that type of product.

So imagine that if you had those needs, how would that make this product difficult to use and how can you think about making it more accessible to them? So to do that, we need to think about why they need the product in the first place.

So what is it that they need this product for? How will they want to use the product? So in their everyday life, how will it be used? What needs they may have? So why might they not be able to access other types of products like this, why might they need an accessible utility belt.

And how those needs can be addressed.

So this is where that empathy is really important.

So we need to think about if there is a problem or if there is a barrier to somebody using a product, then how can we address that and make it so that they can use the product, make it easier for them to use, make it easier for them to access.

So we need to imagine that we also have that need and how we would want that to be addressed and how it would make it easier for us, which we either can then make it easier for the user.

Design specifications include information on the function of a product.

So that's what the product is designed to do.

The user, that's key part of today's thinking, is who will use the product and why do they need it? The performance of a product, that's how the product will work in real life once it's been made.

The materials that the product will be made from.

The appearance, so that means what it will look like when it's made.

And the environmental impact of the product and how that can be reduced once it's been manufactured.

And an accessible product focuses on the user and their needs, and that's what we are focusing on today.

So the design specifications for a utility belt need to really focus in on the product, what it'll be used for, what it could be used for, and then who is going to use it.

So that user being the central part of our considerations in our design specifications.

So typically utility belts are designed to be used for a specific reason.

So we need to choose one of those reasons to focus on.

So if we take the example of a utility belt that might be used to hold money or a mobile phone or personal items, that's one use that we can focus on.

So once we've got that function in mind, we can think about who is going to use that product.

So who is going to need a utility belt that holds money, mobile phones and personal items securely? So it could be somebody in a wheelchair, so someone who doesn't have their hands free to hold a conventional bag or needs to keep things close to them or needs easy access to it while seated.

So someone in a wheelchair is someone who would have a barrier to using a similar product that might already be out there and might need a product that's been made more accessible to them.

So really thinking about a specific user for this product.

So then we can think about the performance, how it will work.

So how will this product work for that user to be able to hold their money, phone and personal items? So we can think that it might need large pockets.

So to be able to hold a mobile phone or lots of different items, the pockets need to be quite large, but they need to be able to get in and out of them quite easily, so we can think about using easy to open fasteners.

So that our design is starting to be informed by the needs of the user and what they're going to need the product to do for them.

So then we can start thinking about the materials we make that product from.

So we know what it's going to, how it's going to function, we've made that decision.

So then what will we need to make it from to also aid the accessibility and to aid the design? So I might think about something like an elasticated belt could be used that would make it much more adjustable, much more stretchy, much more comfortable, flexible to wear for somebody who's seated in a wheelchair.

And it will make it adjustable to the position that it's being worn as well, whether it's around the waist, on the shoulder, or across the arm.

That can be adjusted if we use something like an elasticated belt with strong, flexible fabrics for the pockets.

So we've got all these things in mind.

Now we start to think about what it can look like.

So we know what type of product it is, we know what it's going to do.

So what is it going to look like? So if I'm empathising with this person who's in a wheelchair has needs access to some quite personal, maybe valuable items, I might choose a dark colour, so not to draw attention to it.

They might not want people to know that they have those personal items in the bag around their waist or on their shoulder.

So we don't want to draw attention to that product.

So a dark colour would suit that need.

And finally, we can look at the environmental impact of our product by choosing things like non-plastic fasteners or recycling an existing products or maybe using an existing belt product and adapting it, changing it, adding onto it to make a utility belt means that we are reducing the amount of materials we use and we can use fewer reSources to make that product.

So we are reducing our impact on the environment as well.

So we've made lots of decisions and lots of considerations based on what that product needs to do for the user.

Quick check then before we move on.

The pupils again have been discussing what a design specification is this time and they've got their ideas.

So let's see who you agree with.

So Sam thinks that a design specification sets out the measurements of a product.

Lucas thinks the design specification is a drawing to show how a product will look.

And Laura thinks the design specification is a list of things that a product must have or do.

So who do you agree with? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

So what did you think? Who do you think has the right definition of a design specification? Well done if you said it was Laura.

So of course a design specification is a list of things that a product must have and things it must do.

So the way it must perform for the user.

Well done if you got that right.

Time for a task now.

So in this part of the lesson, I want you to be thinking about writing your own design specification.

So it's going to be specifically for an accessible utility belt, and you're going to think about a particular user and have empathy for that user to think about how they might use it and why they need that product in the first place.

So you're going to make some design decisions for every area of the design specification that we looked at pre previously.

So you're gonna think about what the needs of the user are.

So what specific needs does your user have that need to be addressed when you design this product? What do they need the belt for? What do they want it to do? What's the function of the product? What does the function of the product need to be? How will it be adapted and how will it work? So this is the performance of the product.

So how can we make it work? What is it going to do? What can you make it from? So we're thinking about the materials that you'll use.

How you can make it suitable for the use it's going to have? How it will look? So that's the appearance.

And how it can be made environmentally friendly? So how can we reduce the impact on the environment by the materials we choose, the fabrics we choose, and the way it is made? So that's considering the environment.

So lots of things you need to consider there to write your design specification.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? So the pupils have been having a go as well, and Laura's design, her design specification, thinking about those key elements of the user and the product.

So she's thinking about the function, first of all, of her utility belt product would be to hold tools and accessories for gardening.

So she's chosen a different use for a utility belt to focus for her design specification.

So then she thought about the user.

Who would need to hold tools and accessories for gardening? So she's thinking about maybe someone with sensitive skin due to eczema who must wear gloves to perform gardening tasks.

So they already access gardening tasks, but they have a barrier to using some gardening products that they have eczema, sensitive skin, so they must wear gloves.

So that we need to empathise with, if you've got to wear gloves, how does that impact your use of a product like a utility belt? So Laura's been thinking about that.

So she's thought that the performance of her pocket, how her product will work for this user is it will need large pockets so you can get your hand in even if you're wearing a thick gardening glove.

Simple fasteners, because fiddly fasteners would be quite hard to use if you're wearing fit gardening gloves.

So then she's considering the fact that they're wearing those gloves and how she can make the product accessible even with that as the user need.

So then she's moved on to thinking about the material.

So if that's what it needs to do, what should she make it out of? So she's been thinking about using a thick waterproof fabric, which can be used outside 'cause, which she knows that the user is going to use this product outside.

And she's thinking about using hook and loop fasteners and toggle fasteners, which are types of fasteners which are easy to open and close.

So she's considering the type of fastness she might use.

And then in terms of the appearance, she's thinking about using a dark colour because if it's being used outside, it could get dirty quite easily.

Specifically, if you're doing gardening, could get soil and dirt on it, which could affect the way it looks.

So by using a dark colour, it reduces the impact of that on the look of the product.

And then to consider the environment, she's going to use non-plastic fasteners.

So hook and loop and toggles can be made from fabric and wood, so they could be made non-plastic.

And she's going to use an existing product.

So she's going to recycle an old belt and turn it into a new product for this user.

So she's chosen a specific task and a specific user and used empathy to consider how they might use that product and that has helped her make those design decisions.

So that's what you should have on your design specification is those very clear design ideas and design choices that you've made to make your products accessible to the user.

So we've come to the end of the lesson now.

I've really enjoyed looking at how we can design products to make them more accessible to as many people as possible or honing in on some very specific needs of certain users.

And we've learned that accessible textiles use empathic design to meet the needs of all users.

So by considering what people need and how they use products, we can make them work for those users the best way that we can.

And design specifications ensure products are inclusive and they address user needs.

So that word inclusive means, everybody can have access to it, everybody can use it, and it can address specific needs in there as well.

So that really thoughtful design is key to making an accessible textile product.

Thank you for joining me for this lesson today.

I hope to see you again in another lesson.

Goodbye for now.