Accessible Bathrooms
Being a life long wheelchair using gimp girl I think I know a thing or two about bathroom accessibility. A door that is easy to open from inside as well as outside is the first step. I once got stuck in a public restroom when I was in college. Fortunately I only waited a couple minutes until someone came through the door to let me out.
Bathroom vanities at the right height are critical because it’s really a pain when you can’t reach the faucet. They should be high enough to get your legs under when seated in a wheelchair, but they shouldn’t be so deep that you can’t reach the faucet. Those faucets that turn water on automatically when you put your hand under it are super cool.
The biggest mistake I see in public restrooms is the placement of mirrors. Usually there is a mirror over the vanity sinks, but how does someone who is only 4 foot 2 inches tall, while seated in a wheelchair, see themselves in the mirror that is over 4 feet above the ground? I have a feeling that a man designed that. There should always be at least one full length mirror in the bathroom. How else is gimp girl supposed to put on her lipstick?
The best ever public restroom I have ever run across is the one where the handicapped stall is twice the size of a normal one and has its own sink.
Now that I’ve bored you go have a nice day!
Here at our new work we having been having toilet wars. Various males object to an even-stevens approach as we have 4 males for each female.
The females strongly object to male toilet habits. As the toilets were designed to be uni-sex… well, we have problems. Such a small thing but important.
We too have a problem at work. Our building has more mens rooms than ladies. We say our closest one is unisex, but that only means we can use it if we must.
The door still says MEN, and any attempt to change it has been torn down.
Handicap accessible? Don’t make me laugh. I have to grab hold of the toilet itself for balance. Not a bar anywhere.