The Universal Design Workplace Challenge

A collaborative initiative from Starkloff Disability Institute and MO Better Foundation. With financial support from Regions Foundation. Office with flexible space that supports standing or sitting in either a wheelchair or desk chair.

Starkloff Disability Institute and MO Better Foundation are cohosting a competition to tackle real workplace barriers faced by people with disabilities.

Disability Led

Disabled professionals submit real challenges that that make their jobs harder or are limiting their success and stay involved as a co-creators for the solution.​

Collaborative Solutions

A public call for a broad range of participants—including students, professionals, and members of the public—to co-develop inclusive, real-world solutions that demonstrate Universal Design principles.​

Growing Impact

Bringing together different perspectives and learning from each other creates solutions that aren't just theoretical—they're buildable, scalable, and rooted in lived experience.​

A Universal Design Competition

Not just an academic exercise, the challenge is grounded in real-life needs of the people with disabilities.

While assistive technology holds the key to unlocking great careers for people with disabilities, too often their lived experience and needs go unheard. Well-intentioned designers lack opportunities to engage with colleagues and end-users.

Individuals with disabilities share a workplace challenge they're experiencing—big or small—that they would like help solving.

Call for Challenges Details →

Open to broad range of participants—​from students and professionals to hobbyists and hackers—to form solution teams.

Call for Teams Details →

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Teams will be partnered with a user whose challenge was selected to co-design a real-world solution that demonstrate Universal Design (UD) principles​.

The co-design model is critical to effective and sustainable solutions:

  • Uplift voices of people living with disabilities​
  • Invite students, professionals, and even folks outside the field to design with fresh eyes​
  • Support creative solutions that don't just check boxes—but truly make spaces more welcoming and usable for everyone​

Co-Design Details →

A panel of experts in universal design will evaluate each team's solution and select the top 10 as finalists.

Judging and Prize Details →

Make a greater impact and earn national recognition at North America's leading conference on universal design.

Learn more about SDI's Universal Design Summit →

Call for Workplace Challenges

Your Voice, Your Workplace, Your Solutions

Today, we're looking for individuals with disabilities who are willing to share a workplace challenge they're experiencing—big or small—that they would like help solving.

What does this look like for users?

  • You share your challenge.

Tell us what's making your job harder or limiting your success—whether it's technology, physical space, communication, policies, or something else.

  • You stay at the center.

If your challenge is selected, you'll be at the heart of the design process, working as a co-creator with a team of problem solvers that may include engineering students, assistive technology professionals, occupational therapists, and more. You'll guide them to develop a solution that meets your needs and could assist others, too. Expected time commitment is 2 hours per month from November 2025 through March 2026.

  • Real outcomes.

Winning solutions will be presented at the Starkloff Disability Institute Universal Design Summit in Spring 2026 and showcased in the new Universal Design Showcase Workspace, opening in 2027.

If you're ready to bring your workplace challenge to this competition, submit by completing the Workplace Challenge form by August 31, 2025. Together, let's create more inclusive workplaces!

Call for Solution Teams

This call will open in August.

Public call for a broad range of participants to co-develop inclusive, real-world solutions that demonstrate Universal Design (UD) principles.

  • Professionals like adaptive technology professionals (ATP), occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, engineers, architects, designers, and universal design specialists.
  • Students from high school as well as undergraduate and graduate students from accredited colleges and universities.
  • Anyone interested in creative problem solving, including individuals with disabilities, caregivers, and members of the general public.

Stay tuned for this call to open in August 2025.

Co-Design Solutions

November 2025 – March 2026

Users whose challenges are selected will be partnered with a solutions team to solve the problem together.

Bringing together different perspectives and learning from each other creates solutions that aren't just theoretical—they're buildable, scalable, and rooted in lived experience.​

Teams work with the user (co-designer) to design an inclusive, real-world solution that demonstrate Universal Design (UD) principles.

Participants will be invited to submit various types of work, ranging from completed projects to conceptual designs, in one of these categories:

  • Workspace & Architectural Design
  • Assistive Technology Solutions
  • Smart Devices for Workspaces
  • Service Design & Digital Interfaces for Accessibility

Each team must demonstrate the design, functionality, feasibility, and applicability of the product/concept designed as the solution.

The top three teams will receive cash prizes, and their solutions will be featured at the Universal Design Summit in August 2026 and the Starkloff Disability Employment Summit in Fall 2026, building awareness of how assistive technology can unlock potential in the workplace. In 2027, these innovations will have a permanent home in SDI's Universally Designed Coworking Office, which will include a dedicated adaptive tech exhibition space.

Judging and Prizes

A panel of experts will select ten finalists. Teams' design solutions will be evaluated on:

  • Innovation and creativity
  • Adherence to UD principles
  • Feasibility and functionality
  • Impact on accessibility
  • Sustainability

Innovative solutions will be amplified on high-visibility platforms​.

Presented to design professionals across the country at Starkloff Disability Institue's 8th Universal Design Summit (August 2026)​.

Published in the UD Summit conference publication​.

Featured Starkloff Disability Institute's Showcase Inclusive Workspace for employers to experience (opening 2027)​.

More details to come!