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About R2D2

The R2D2 Center performs interdisciplinary basic research investigations, applied research and development, and innovative instruction related to technology and disability.

The Center was established in the College of Health Sciences as the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences and Technology (CRST). The Center's name was changed to the Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R2D2) Center in November 2003 to more accurately describe the Center's overall activities.

The R2D2 Center affiliates with multiple colleges, schools, and service programs within the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, including the Departments of Occupational Sciences and Technology, Human Movement Sciences and Health Sciences in the College of Health Sciences; the Department of Exceptional Education in the School of Education; the School of Architecture and Urban Planning; and the University Technology Information Services (UITS) and the Student Accessibility Center (SAC). The Center also affiliates with other campuses in the University of Wisconsin System and a number of professionals from other academic, community and medical institutions across the globe.

The R2D2 Center is directed by Dr. Roger O. Smith. Dr. Dave Edyburn serves as Director of Training and Dissemination. Aura Hirschman, Dennis Tomashek and Keith Edyburn serve as members of the R2D2 Management Team. For a complete listing of all R2D2 staff, go to the R2D2  staff page at https://uwm.edu/r2d2/about-us/our-people/.

The R2D2 Center has been pleased to host the ACCESS-ed and the ACCESS Main Street Websites and activities. We enthusiastically invite you to peruse these website(s) as key information sources for universal design in higher education and in the community.

Tools and Resources

It took me several years of struggling with the heavy door to my building, sometimes having to wait until a person stronger came along, to realize that the door was an accessibility problem, not only for me, but for others as well. And I did not notice, until one of my students pointed it out, that the lack of signs that could be read from a distance at my university forced people with mobility impairments to expend a lot of energy unnecessarily, searching for rooms and offices. Although I have encountered this difficulty myself on days when walking was exhausting to me, I interpreted it, automatically, as a problem arising from my illness (as I did with the door), rather than as a problem arising from the built environment having been created for too narrow a range of people and situations.

Susan Wendell, author of
The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability