Capability measurement for inclusive design

The article addresses the need for representative capability data in inclusive-design evaluation. By examining how physical, sensory and cognitive capabilities can be measured, it supports more systematic estimates of who may be excluded by a design. Its EDI contribution is to bring population diversity into engineering decision-making and to challenge reliance on average or idealised users. This is important for prioritising design changes and making exclusion visible in quantitative terms. However, capability measurement should be interpreted alongside lived experience: numbers can indicate the scale of exclusion but cannot fully represent context, identity or the meaning of participation. The paper is therefore valuable both as a technical foundation and as a prompt for responsible use of human data in inclusive design.