9 Most Important Features of an Accessible Washroom
Correctly identifying the essential factors of an accessible washroom starts with accurately determining who these features are going to be implemented for. Of course, these commercial washroom considerations should address the pain points of the following users:
- Disabled people on wheelchairs
- Persons with mobility impairments
- Individuals with bladder and/or bowel conditions
- Disabled persons with grip issues, balance issues, or other conditions that need support rails
- People with invisible disabilities who also need to use the washroom facilities
- Other people with disabilities that were not mentioned above
1. Accessible Door and Doorway
For wheelchair users to be able to easily roll in and out, your commercial washroom should first and foremost have doors that open outwards. This is so that it can be easily opened in an emergency situation such as when a person falls or slips while inside the toilet.
Obviously too, your washrooms doorways should be wider than the normal or standard ones. Free from any obstruction in the entrance, the door should be light enough that they can be opened with minimal force. For disabled people to be able to close the door behind them, a horizontal bar on the inside of the door should also be in place.
2. Easy-to-Use and Accessible Taps and Bins
An accessible washroom will have taps that are not only easy to use but will also not require much effort before they provide running water. With some disabilities limiting people with their grips, your washroom taps should be easily usable with a closed fist. Others have taps operated with levers instead of those that run with twistable knobs. Dolphin provides an expansive range of innovative sensor taps such as DB100C-STL / DB125C-STL that are not only easy to use but are likewise designed with utmost sustainability features as they offer water and energy usage and wastage efficiency.
The same goes through with bins for your accessible washrooms, which should also be designed in such a way that they can be easily operated without much force and with a closed fist.
3. Basic Sink Amenities All Within Easy Reach Even When Seated
An accessible washroom will have the soap, paper towels, hand dryer, hooks, and toilet paper must all be within easy reach for wheelchair users. Obviously, they have to be hanged or placed at a lower height than the normal standards. Hand dryers, paper towels, toilet papers and the like should also be placed near the taps so people with disability using mobility aids don’t need to touch their crutches, rollators, or wheelchairs with wet hands when they have to dry them off after handwashing. This likewise includes mirrors and sinks in general.
This is likewise directly relevant to WorldVision’s WASH disability inclusion practices, where inclusion of persons with disabilities refers to the concept of “water, sanitation, and hygiene that is available, affordable, dignified, and accessible to all persons with disabilities.”
4. Sturdy Grab Rails and Support Bars
Grab and support rails are basic components of accessible washrooms as they not only provide support for people with disabilities using the loo, they likewise offer balance and stability for those moving around in the toilet.
5. Raised Toilet Seats
People with disabilities, especially those with reduced mobility, will find it difficult to stand up or sit down, let alone move around the washroom. Washroom seats that are designed higher than the normal ones make it easier for disabled people to stand up and sit down while also offering ease and safety for them to transfer to and from their wheelchair with the seat height being more equal between the two.
6. Spacious Washrooms
It is imperative that an accessible toilet comes with extra, even expansive space. Clearly, an accessible washroom needs to be spacious enough to provide space for wheelchair users to be able to turn and manoeuvre around the washroom without much difficulty.
Technically, this could mean providing a clear and unobstructed turning circle for the wheelchair of about 1.5 metres in diameter at minimum. Both sides of the toilet should also be designed with enough space to allow wheelchair users to transfer from either side of the toilet to and from their wheelchair. Washroom tops and troughs should also be implemented with ample space underneath where wheelchairs can easily be rolled right up to it.
7. Visible Working Emergency Alarm Cord
Excellent accessible washrooms have emergency alarm cords in place to use when there is an emergency or someone needing assistance can readily signal for help. These emergency alarm cords, normally designed bright red in color so you don’t miss them, should be hung around. 40 cm from the ground around the full area of the toilet. The washroom or facility staff or personnel who enter the toilet to check on the one who signalled for help should also easily find the button to turn the alarm off inside the washroom area.
8. Clear and Visible Signage
The universal signposting of the wheelchair icon should be clearly and visibly placed if you have an accessible washroom so people with disabilities should not encounter difficulties finding it in your building.
9. Changing Places Facilities
Changing places facilities are specialised washroom facilities particularly designed for people with more complex needs and are completely unable to use the regular and standard toilet, and a good accessible washroom should have this.Among the elements of a changing places facility are an adult-sized changing bed, a tracking hoist system, and other essential features that allow individuals to use the toilet with comfort, complete privacy, and dignity.
