Accessible toilets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since April 2007. |
In the United Kingdom, it is required for organizations and businesses to make adjustments to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
[edit] Overview
In order to provide an essential amenity such as an accessible toilet, some planning is necessary. For example, some common mistakes are to put in an accessible toilet on a floor which can only be reached by going up steps, or hinging the door of a toilet in such a way as to make it impossible for a wheelchair user to reach the toilet itself.
A wheelchair accessible toilet should be at a specific height to aid the transfer of the user onto the toilet, with the provision of handles (grab bars). Good practice is also to provide an alarm (in the form of a red string which reaches the ground) in case of emergency. The sink & hand dryer will need to be at the correct height for wheelchair users to be able to reach them comfortably. The door of an accessible toilet, and the doors leading to it, need to be wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through. Particular care needs to be taken to notice how much space is left when a door is open.
[edit] Requirements
- Accessible toilets need to have a larger floor space than other cubicles to allow space for a wheelchair to manoeuvre. This additional space is also very useful for people who are not necessarily wheelchair users, but need support to go to the toilet from someone else. Very good practice would be the provision of a changing table to be used in such cases, however this currently happens very rarely.
- Currently, very few businesses and organisations provide accessible toilets for their customers and visitors. Some business owners say 'but we don't have any disabled customers', however it is worth considering whether this is because you are accidentally excluding people from using your restaurant or bar by not providing basic services for them.
[edit] Sources
United Nations Enable Programme.
UK Disability Discrimination Act 2005.
UK Charity Mencap campaign "Changing places, changing lives" www.changing-places.org.
