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Good practice Imported

Inclusive Design Research Centre (OCAD University) — Open-Source Inclusive Design

Canada · Toronto · See the Canada profile · See the Toronto profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 1% 100/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Founded in 1994 (rebranded at OCAD University in 2010), the Inclusive Design Research Centre runs open-source inclusive-design R&D with ~20 staff, a Master's since 2011, and grants of $1.2M (Hewlett Foundation) and $1.7M (federal accessible-coding funding).

20 people
Core staff
$1.2M
Hewlett Foundation grant (FLOE project)
$1.7M
Federal funding (Coding to Learn and Create)
Inclusive Design Research Centre (OCAD University) — Open-Source Inclusive Design

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
OCAD University — Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC)
Period
1994–present
Keywords
inclusive design research, open education, assistive technology, higher education

Context

The Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) traces back to a 1994 predecessor at the University of Toronto, moved to OCAD University in 2010, and now operates in Toronto with a team of about 20 people. It anchors the Inclusive Design Institute, a network of 8 core postsecondary institutions and more than 100 collaborating organisations.

Objectives

IDRC runs open-source inclusive-design R&D and trains the next generation of practitioners through a Master of Design in Inclusive Design offered since 2011, aiming to remove barriers in open education and build inclusive technology for people with physical, learning and cognitive disabilities.

Activities

Recent funded projects include FLOE (Flexible Learning for Open Education), supported by a $1.2 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and 'Coding to Learn and Create', a $1.7 million project funded by Canada's Accessible Technology Program with partner Bridges Canada to build inclusive coding tools and teaching resources.

Conclusions

As an academic research centre, most of IDRC's work is project-based on grant cycles rather than a single continuously-scaled public service, so it reaches students, developers, educators and open-source communities more directly than end-users at population scale, and funding is discontinuous, project by project.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Multi-million-dollar project grants (e.g. $1.2M Hewlett Foundation, $1.7M Canadian federal funding) sustain a ~20-person specialist team; funding is discontinuous, project by project, rather than a single core budget.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Institution built over three decades (1994-present) including founding a Master's programme (2011) and a multi-institution network — not replicable quickly.
Staffing & skills
~20 core staff in Toronto, Master of Design in Inclusive Design graduate programme (since 2011)

Conditions for success

  • network of 8 core postsecondary institutions and 100+ collaborating organisations
  • diversified project-based grant funding (Hewlett Foundation, Canada's Accessible Technology Program, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation)

Common failure modes

  • funding is discontinuous, project by project, rather than continuously scaled
  • reaches researchers/developers/educators more than end-users at population scale

Where it fits

Governance type
academic research centre within a public university
Scale
national/international network, ~20 core staff
Income level
high-income (Canada)

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

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