Designing an Accessible Mobile Makerspace with an Intellectual Disability Support Organisation
Jacqueline Johnstone, Madhuka Nadeeshani, Troy McGee, Kirsten Ellis, Swamy Ananthanarayan · 2025 · Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2025) · doi:10.1145/3663547.3746358
Summary
This paper presents the co-design process and outcomes of developing an accessible mobile makerspace (a converted van) for a multisite Disability Support Organisation (DSO) in Australia that runs an eMaking program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Despite the growing popularity of makerspaces for underserved populations, people with intellectual disabilities remain largely excluded from maker culture and its associated benefits of creative expression, skill development, and community participation. The DSO in this study operates an electronic making (eMaking) program across four geographically dispersed sites, which faced challenges including inconsistent resource access, limited storage, coach apprehension, and difficulty transporting clients to centralised facilities. The researchers employed a three-phase qualitative methodology: preliminary interviews with clients (N=12), support workers (N=7), and DSO leadership (N=3); embodied ideation sessions using bodystorming across four sites; and reflective interviews. Bodystorming was deliberately chosen as the primary co-design method because it enables participants with diverse verbal and cognitive abilities to express preferences through physical actions rather than requiring verbal articulation. Participants physically explored storage configurations, spatial layouts, and resource accessibility using props including stackable toolboxes, wheeled bases, and tape to mark spatial constraints. The resulting mobile makervan features pull-out shelving, a platform lift for heavy equipment like laser cutters, fixed shelving, stackable resource boxes, and exterior customisation with client photos and the STEAM acronym.
Key findings
The study revealed that people within the DSO—clients, coaches, and leadership—contributed to the co-design process through relational, interpretive, and operational roles. Bodystorming proved effective for enabling participants with limited verbal abilities to express design preferences; for example, clients demonstrated a clear preference for four-wheel storage bases over two-wheel alternatives through physical interaction, contrary to coaches initial expectations. The co-design process catalysed a significant perceptual shift among coaches, who originally described the eMaking program as "messy" and "chaotic" but after co-design reframed it as a "breathe easy thing." The mobile makervan addressed all five identified program challenges: limited storage was resolved by onboard equipment storage, client transport was eliminated by delivering the program on-site, inconsistent practices were addressed by specialist coaches travelling with the van, coach apprehension was reduced through co-design involvement, and inexperienced coaches were supported by structured resource kits. Emotional and social investment proved to be a key accessibility dimension—clients expressed pride in seeing their photos on the van and felt ownership over the co-designed outcome, which increased motivation and program engagement across all sites.
Relevance
This research demonstrates that accessibility in makerspace contexts extends beyond physical and cognitive accommodations to include emotional and social dimensions of engagement. For practitioners, the study offers a replicable model for bringing maker resources to dispersed disability service sites rather than requiring clients to travel to centralised locations. The bodystorming methodology provides a practical template for inclusive co-design with participants who have limited verbal communication abilities, showing how physical props and scenario enactments can replace traditional interview-based research methods. The findings challenge the assumption that people with intellectual disabilities can only serve as advisory contributors in design processes, positioning them instead as active co-creators. However, the study acknowledges difficulty in disambiguating coaches voices from clients perspectives, a power dynamics challenge relevant to any co-design work involving support relationships. The mobile makerspace model could be adapted by libraries, schools, and community organisations seeking to extend maker programming to underserved populations.
Tags: intellectual disability · makerspace · co-design · bodystorming · participatory design · eMaking · disability support organisations · inclusive design
Standards referenced: UN Sustainable Development Goals