RESEARCH INFORMATION ON INDEPENDENT LIVING
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Volume 1, Issue 9

Physically Accessible Housing

An accessible environment is one that can be traveled through quickly and with minimal effort.

Although public policy has addressed physical access and improvements continue to be made, accessible housing is not widely available for people with disabilities.

Arranging a house for independent living and safety is more than shifting furniture. It is also means shifting mental gears and making changes. For example, lamps with connecting cords can be tripped over, which makes overhead lighting more desirable. Nightlights in every room, not just the bedroom, also provide better visibility at night.

For wheelchair users, the American National Standard Institute says that the average distance an adult in a wheelchair needs to make a complete circle is 60 inches of clear floor space. A hall should be at least 36 inches wide; doors should be 32 inches wide for clearance. Because a seated adult can reach as high as 54 inches (for example, clothes rods in closets) and to about 9 inches above the floor, then cabinets and other household items should be in this range.

Ramps built for wheelchair use have a maximum slope of one inch of height in grade change for every 12 inches of ramp length. Ramp length should not exceed 30 feet without landings, nor rise more than 30 inches. Landings should be both at the top and bottom of a ramp and as wide as the ramp (36 inches).

Ramps longer than 6 feet need a handrail on both sides extending 12 inches beyond the ramp top and bottom. The ramp floor should be 30 to 34 inches to the handrail top.

In one study, ramps were built for the homes of six people. The accessibility of each residence was rated five weeks before and two weeks after ramp installation. Results showed that there was a 60% increase in community trips after ramp installation.

An accessible house may have a front entry with a sloping front walk leading to a covered front porch. A low stone wall lining the sidewalk might actually be a wheelchair ramp. Other special design features might include extra-wide doorways; a "roll-in" closet; master bath with shower room; and lower-than-normal cabinets, countertops, light switches, and thermostat.

All houses can be built for maximum physical accessibility with “universal design” features. Universal design uses standard building products or features that have been placed differently or omitted to create a structure that doesn’t seem obviously built to accommodate disability.

The Center of Universal Design says that adjustability is a key design concept in accessibility. For example, Center designers may stack storage closets with removable floors for an elevator option. At Alpha One, the largest center for independent living in Maine, staff members operate an accessibility consulting service. They do skills training, design consultation, self-advocacy, and modification budgeting with consumers.  —  Cindy Higgins, The Research and Training Center on Independent Living, The University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Ave., Room 4089 Dole Center, Lawrence, KS 66045-7555, (785) 864-4095, E-mail: [email protected]. This project funded by National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research grant #H133A980048.

Information for this review came from the interactive Research Information on Independent Living (RIIL) database at www.GetRiil.org, which contains research summaries related to independent living with disabilities. A special effort has been made to include information that independent leaders in the field said they wanted, namely topics regarding accessible, affordable housing, effective advocacy for rural areas, effective transition from schools and nursing homes, accessible, affordable transportation, reaching underserved populations, policies that impede independent living, rural health care services, and Medicaid/Medicare regulations for durable equipment.

RIIL is a joint effort of the Research and Training Center on Independent Living at the University of Kansas and the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) Program of TIRR.