Inclusive Design (MDes)
Our Master of Design (MDes) in Inclusive Design offers
graduate students a unique opportunity to become global leaders in the emerging
field of inclusive design in information and communication technologies (ICT)
and practices.
Inclusive Design encompasses the full range of human diversity including
ability, language, culture, gender and age.
Led by an accomplished and diverse faculty, our students are urged to think
differently in order to break through existing societal barriers to address the
growing global demand for inclusively designed digital technologies, products
and services.
Initially, our program focuses on building expertise in ICT and practices.
From there, it expands to incorporate larger components of industrial and
environmental design, graphic communication and relevant arts/design areas with
connection to digital technologies and ICT systems.
This comprehensive curriculum prepares graduates for doctoral programs or
careers across multiple sectors that engage digital media and ICT systems,
including government and education, entertainment, arts, culture, health,
communication design and more.
Our MDes in Inclusive Design is a full-time, low-residency, two-year program
with an executive-style delivery format to accommodate the needs of working
professionals and international students. It is comprises:
- Two two-week summer residencies
- Seminar courses delivered in a highly interactive online format
throughout the year
- A major research project
- A culminating festival and graduate symposium
Objectives
Our Master of Design in Inclusive Design has the following objectives:
- Graduate professionals with the necessary knowledge, skills,
creativity, resourcefulness and intellectual agility to lead and support
the critically important transition to inclusive information and
communication systems and practices globally.
- Equip graduates to excel in a diverse and evolving professional field
in the Inclusive Design of ICT with a growing labour market in work
domains, including health, education, government and other public and
private sectors.
- Increase the human capacity to meet legal, policy and societal
commitments to accessibility, diversity and inclusion at a local, national
and global level.
- Produce graduates who can help to address the growing global demand
for inclusively designed digital technologies, products and services and
the challenges faced by individuals who currently face barriers to
participation in society, including barriers to meaningful economic
contribution and well-being.
- Equip graduates with a systematic understanding of knowledge regarding
inclusive design of ICT systems and processes, including relevant knowledge
in a wide variety of related fields and a critical awareness of current
problems and new insights.
- Develop graduates with the conceptual understanding and methodological
competence in inclusive design needed to create, interpret, critically
evaluate and advance knowledge in the field.
- Prepare potential academics to participate in future doctoral programs
in inclusive design, for the furthering of leading-edge research and
development in this area.
- Advance notions of design, development and research in disciplines
involved in producing ICT systems and practices to be inclusive of the full
range of human diversity.
- Expand the research community and the community of practice devoted to
informing and designing our IT systems for diversity and accessibility, and
to fuel an economic cluster and a centre of excellence in inclusive design
of ICT systems and practices.
- Develop the OCAD University community to include students, faculty and
researchers with backgrounds in computer sciences, applied sciences and
other digital media and information and communication technology
disciplines.
Key features
- The program is designed to be fully accessible to students and faculty
with diverse needs, including students with disabilities and students for
whom English is a second language. The mode of delivery and all materials
will be accessible and augmented with language supports.
- Two on-site intensive summer sessions each year in which students will be
engaged in intensive academic programming and collaborative experiences to
familiarize themselves with fellow students, faculty members and
researchers
- Innovative online courses which use highly interactive and engaging
instructional design techniques. These include online collaborative group
activities, discussion forums with guest experts, moderated synchronous
chats, and guided online tours of both online and physical sites and
examples
- Multidisciplinary seminars co-taught by world leaders in inclusive design
and emerging information and communication technologies and practices
- Student engagement in successful, open source, open access international
research projects addressing a rich diversity of issues and challenges
related to inclusive design of ICT systems and practices
- A major culminating project relating to a real-world issue that both
develops and demonstrates the knowledge and skills gained during the course
of the program
