What good is a home if you can’t easily come and go?
Accessible home entrances ensure occupants don’t feel trapped by the rigmarole of arriving and leaving the home. While creating an accessible entry point creates an inclusive, welcoming space for everyone, it is even more vital for individuals with disabilities and ageing adults.
Let’s explore.
Why Accessible Home Entrances Matter
Accessible entrances are essential for creating a welcoming environment, ensuring that everyone – regardless of physical ability – feels valued when entering your home. They foster a sense of inclusion and community, making your home a place where all guests feel respected.
Creating an accessible home entrance is particularly important for enhancing comfort and safety for disabled and elderly people. Well-designed home entrances help to prevent accidents and injuries by providing ease of use and supportive adaptations.
Accessible home entrances also empower individuals with disabilities to enter and exit their homes independently, giving them further confidence in their autonomy and celebrating their achievements and abilities.
Now, we know what you’re thinking. Isn’t an accessible home entrance going to look pretty displeasing to the eye? At the John Ford Group, we believe the entrance to your home should fill you with joy and add value to your property. Accessible home entrances can be discreetly integrated with ease so that they blend in seamlessly and don’t draw any unwanted attention.
What Makes An Accessible Home Entrance?
When you’re creating an accessible entry point to your home, there are several key elements you need to consider to promote functionality, safety and comfort. Let’s explore each of the five main factors.
Step-Free Access
Removing the challenge of steps is fundamental to accessible home entrances. The typical method of achieving step-free access is to install either a step lift or a ramp with a gentle slope.
Here’s what you need to know about accessibility ramps.
- Temporary ramps are ideal for short-term use when a permanent change is unnecessary or unwanted.
- Threshold ramps are small, lightweight ramps that do what they say on the tin; you can use a threshold ramp to bridge a height difference of a step or two.
- Concrete ramps offer an extremely permanent solution but take time to install and remove.
- Modular ramps can be installed over any ground and are super speedy to erect, change and remove.
Sometimes, ramps aren’t a feasible option. This can be because of the angle or location of the steps, or the gradient of the rise. Step lifts are a type of platform lift that moves users short vertical distances, such as up external steps to the front door of their home, offering another way of achieving step-free entry. They come in all sizes to meet the varying needs of users and can accommodate wheelchairs. Read more about step lifts here.
Wide Doorways And Thresholds
Doorway width and thoughtful threshold design are critical to ensure smooth access to a home.
Doorways should be between 775mm to 1000mm wide to comfortably accommodate wheelchairs and walking aids. Creating an accessible home entrance may involve widening the front door frame and installing a new door; this is a job that typically requires expert input. Read more about how door widening works here.
Alongside the width of the doorway, level or low thresholds – meaning less than 6mm in height – are ideal for enabling ease of movement for people using wheelchairs and mobility aids. This mitigates the risk of tripping and falling for safer passage and heightens comfort.
Accessible Door Design
Installing an accessible door doesn’t mean compromising on aesthetics. From stylish contemporary designs to traditional-looking doors, you don’t have to worry about the entry to your home looking municipal and can choose from a wide range of customisable styles.
Accessible Door Hardware
The hardware features of accessible home entrances must be easily operated by users with a range of abilities.
We’re talking about things like door handles, locks and doorbells. Here are the go-to options for accessible home entrances.
- Lever-style door handles are much easier to grip and move than traditional doorknobs. This makes them ideal for people with reduced hand strength or dexterity.
- Automatic door openers can be activated by either a button or a sensor to allow people to get in or out of the home. This removes the need for users to push or pull large, heavy doors.
- Smart locks and keyless entry systems eliminate the need to use or keep track of a physical key. Individuals, and their family members, can lock and unlock the door using a smartphone app, keyfob or keypad instead, creating a high level of security (and plenty of convenience).
Good Lighting
Proper lighting installed around the entrance to the home is vital for safety. It ensures that the path to your accessible door is visible and clear from debris, reducing the risk of trips and slips – especially in low-light or dark conditions.
Motion-sensor lights automatically turn on when an individual gets close; these can provide unparalleled convenience and enhanced security. Lighting should be placed and angled so that any paths, steps and ramps are illuminated at all times.
You can read more about lighting for accessibility in our dedicated blog post.
Additional Considerations
There are additional elements that enhance safety and functionality to create accessible home entrances.
Getting To The Door
The path leading to the door should be well-maintained and free from debris. To make navigating the path safe and simple, it must be smooth, level and wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and other mobility aids.
Landing Area
Imagine trying to open the front door whilst your wheelchair is still sitting on a slope!
Level landing areas right outside accessible home entrances are crucial. These flat spaces enable users to safely stop, take a breath if needed and open the door or wait for assistance.
Cover
Porches or overhangs for accessible home entrances provide essential shelter from the weather and reduce discomfort, whether it’s blazing sunshine or icy rains. This can be particularly useful if it can take longer than average to open or close the door.
Video Doorbell
Video doorbells make it easier for users to check who’s at the door and communicate with visitors remotely. When installing a video doorbell, consider the positioning; guests may be in a wheelchair, so it needs to be at a reachable height for all users).
Visual Doorbell
Visual doorbells provide an alert system for people with hearing impairments using flashing lights or vibrations. These visual cues notify users that someone is at the door.
Visual doorbells can be integrated with smart home hubs for ultimate convenience.
Low Profile Door Mat
Low-profile door mats like these near accessible home entrances prevent dirt and debris from being tracked inside.
Conclusion
Accessible home entrances are inclusive, easy to use and super safe. Through core principles like step-less entry and additional considerations such as special hardware, they promote comfort and independence in regular users and visitors, regardless of ability.
Need to find out more about accessible homes? We’ve written a ton of blogs that will help. See our website for more!