Accessible Icon, 2009-11

The Accessible Icon Project redesigns the International Symbol of Access—the universal symbol used to indicate the presence of accessibility for individuals with disabilities. The original icon, designed in 1968 by Susanne Koefoed, depicted a person sitting passively in a wheelchair, as though waiting to be pushed to a destination. The redesigned icon features a wheelchair user actively moving through space, conveying a sense of dynamism that is absent in the original design.

The project began in 2009 as a community-based street art campaign by Sara Hendren and Brian Glenney after having observed idiosyncratic variations of the symbol used in the built environment. Hendren and Glenney adapted the original icon and printed their version on transparent vinyl stickers, which they applied over existing wheelchair-accessible parking signs. The old and the new symbols were visible simultaneously. The action drove visibility to the inherent problems with the existing icon and spurred the desire for a new, formal symbol of access that suggested greater agency in the world.


Hendren and Glenney partnered with graphic designer Tim Ferguson-Sauder to redraw the icon to ISO DOT 50 standards, the universal pictogram system used throughout the world. The white icon on a blue background conforms to the standard color scheme of the original. The black icon on a white background enables use in other contexts, such as print materials. They put the new icon in the public domain, giving free access to anyone anywhere.

Accessible Icon, 2009-11; Designed by Tim Ferguson-Sauder (American, b. 1972), Brian Glenney (American, b. 1974), Sara Hendren (American, b. 1973), Accessible Icon Project (Malden, Massachusetts, USA, founded 2012); image (computer generated); File in public domain, collected by Cooper Hewitt in collaboration with the designers; 2017-72-1-1,2

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols.