The Youngstown Foundation embraces the Principles of Universal Design and is committed to furthering implementation throughout our community.

The term "Universal design" was coined by the architect Ronald L. Mace to describe the concept of designing all products and the built environment to be aesthetic and usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life. Universal design makes things more accessible, safer, and convenient for everyone. It developed in response to the diversity of human populations, their abilities and their needs.

A few examples of universal design include curb cuts or sidewalk ramps, automated doors, kneeling buses with telescoping ramps, sound signals at traffic lights, houses with no-step entries, counters of varying heights, dishware with steep sides, utensils with larger handles, closed captioning in televisions, and the accessibility features incorporated into computer systems and software.

The Youngstown Foundation encourages grant requests to incorporate the Principles of Universal Design in their projects.