About Access likes to work with designers who are in touch and up to speed with issues around accessibility – who have their finger on the pulse
Unfortunately at one site recently it was more a case of a finger in the air, figuratively in terms of trying something out and hoping for the best, and literally in terms of waving your hand around to activate a motion sensor.
The modern innovation is the key to activating the flush in a supposedly accessible WC, and we have to say it could cause a bit of a stink if its use becomes widespread!
The problem has arisen because of the decision to hide the cistern behind a panel to keep things neat, tidy and stylish. If you don’t have a visual impairment you’ll probably spot the sensor and will be able to give it a wave when you’ve done what you had to do.
But how do you locate the sensor if you’re blind or partially sighted?
Even if your vision is fine, how long might it take you to work out that the thing in the middle of the panel is the flush for the loo? Maybe as long as it takes to inspect the rest of the WC and note the absence of an alternative method.
The main benefit of having a sensor is that nobody has to touch it, so it’s great for hygiene unless people start to give it a prod because they don’t know what it is. It does the job but it doesn’t make it easy, and surely the key point in producing or offering anything that you want people to use is to make it as easy as possible to operate?
Better by far is the good old lever, which is easy to locate because it’s generally where you would expect it to be. It’s also easy to operate by users who have poor manual dexterity. Buttons or flush plates can also do the trick but they need to be big, clearly visible and operable with a nudge rather than inset and intricate.
Hand wash basin design
We were also perplexed by the design of the hand wash basin. The tap is a single lever mixer, which is what you’d want, but the basin itself doesn’t have an even surround.
The bowl is offset within the unit, with the result that there is effectivelypo a shelf between the WC and the tap. That might be helpful if someone needs a bit of extra space on that side, but the main outcome is inconvenience from placing the user further away from the tap. They have to stretch across the shelf to reach the main thing they need to use.
We’ve thought long and hard about the possible negatives of making that space smaller, having it at the far side of the basin or removing it altogether, but nothing comes to mind.
It might be a handy place for someone to put something down, such as medication, but there are already two shelves in the room. One is close to the pan and designed for use by people who have colostomy bags. There’s another one nearby for people to place other items on. They don’t need the one next to the basin and it just gets in the way.
What can perhaps best be described as a bit of shelf-obsession is also an issue as you enter the building to be welcomed at the reception desk. It’s the first point of contact for many people, and the quicker and more efficiently you are able to deal with visitors when they arrive the better it is for all concerned.
The reception should be designed so staff can operate the facilities and provide help and guidance to guests, with recognition that it needs to accommodate anyone, on either side of the desk, who may be a wheelchair user or short of stature.
This one is the same height from one end to the other, and too much of a stretch for anyone who uses a wheelchair. The solution, adopted apparently because it’s considered to work fine elsewhere, was to stick a low shelf on the end.
It looks like, and almost certainly is, a slapdash attempt to remedy an oversight. It’s also cut-price, because the problem with oversights is that fixing them properly will usually send you over-budget so it’s best to get it right first time.
