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This is for something I'm writing. The character uses a manual wheelchair. She's visiting an office and is impressed by how accessible it is, unlike pretty much the entire rest of the world. What features can it have that she'd notice?
It's a New York security agency which she's visiting as a client, but she can also notice ways in which it's accessible for anyone who works there as well. None of the current employees are physically disabled, so she'd be seeing the potential rather than noticing someone else navigating it in a wheelchair.
It's a New York security agency which she's visiting as a client, but she can also notice ways in which it's accessible for anyone who works there as well. None of the current employees are physically disabled, so she'd be seeing the potential rather than noticing someone else navigating it in a wheelchair.
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Reception desks etc are low, or have a low section, so you don't have to be standing to comfortably interact with the person behind the desk. (And obviously to be accessible for the receptionist they shouldn't have to be standing themselves) Individuals desks are height adjustable.
No strong scents.
Lot of accessible parking with the extra section on the side for wheelchair access.
Things that most offices have anyway: flat carpet (not shaggy), elevators, disabled access toilet.
A lot of offices are relatively accessible for visitors but not for staff, but I'm not very familiar with office worker access issues aside from flexible work hours. My old office had a like...quiet room or something? She could see someone using text to speech or a braille keyboard or...something.
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Ooh, yes, that's a good one! Heavy and difficult to open doors are indeed a pain in the ass, even with a chair like mine that only requires one hand to steer.
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Likewise, the accessible stall in a bathroom should have a power door with an easy-to-reach button that stays open long enough for the person to get in and get seated, with a safety mechanism so they don't get shut in the door.
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She looks in at the accessible toilet stall and it isn't full of cardboard boxes and/or mops and buckets.
When she asked them about their accessibility before going there (to prevent a pointless, humiliating, and -- especially if she doesn't have her own adapted car -- time-consuming journey) the information she needed was readily available. If she was looking on the company's website, the "how to find us" or "contact" page included a section on access. If she was talking to a member of staff, they immediately knew what she was talking about and didn't sound suddenly panicky, and were able to give her the specific information she needed, not just vague reassurances like "yeah, it should be fine."
A big theme she'd see is evidence of informed conscious thought about accessibility. It doesn't happen by accident, and it's a continuing process not something that's just done once (the "done once" attitude is how you get accessible toilets turned into storage closets. They built an accessible toilet! It's done! Whether anyone can use it is irrelevant, they're In Compliance With Regulations.)
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Ditto those wide passages I mentioned: the back hallways that should be wide, both for wheelchair use AND for fire and safety, are not full of junk.
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As well as broad walkspaces, there is turning room, particularly around doors - someone in a manual chair generally needs less space than someone in a powerchair, who needs less space than someone in a scooter, so for this character it will be very spacious. Elevators have buttons at wheelchair height. No fluorescent or flickering lights, no constant or frequent loud noises or strong scents (especially in the bathroom). Doors are automatic or easily opened. There are a variety of chairs available for visitors, both with and without arms. Staff members have a variety of desk options, from their own light sources to screen filters to wrist rests to different headsets for phones, and assorted desk chairs rather than one standard.
All of this is standard and nobody freaks out and calls the "accessibility person" or has to tidy up when someone new with an accessibility need shows up.
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First, consider the age of the building. The ADA is 1991 with its laws kicking in by 1993, but some jurisdictions put building codes in place earlier; I don't know if New York did or when. Anything built since then *must* be ADA compliant; anything before that may have been retrofitted, but there are an awful lot of exceptions that mean lots of places are not actually up to ADA code. If it's an antique building, there might be visible signs that the building has been deliberately retrofitted; if it's a modern building, it's designed with no stairs. (A big ramp in the middle of the room like a spiral staircase features in a Berkeley building designed to be accessible.)
Signage - like for an accessible bathroom, or "Service Dogs Welcome Here", might be another way to show it. A "button" to open the door, or a powered sliding door, rather than a heavy push bar, is always a good sign; those are common, but not actually required by ADA.
Things that insta-signal accessibility to me in an indoor environment: bright enough lighting, wide enough passages and aisles. Many offices can be very crowded. ADA says 32 inches is enough width, but that's actually too narrow for a lot of non-manual or bariatric chairs, and it's super tight even for a lot of regular chairs. When you consider how much room is between the average desks and chairs and tables in an office environment, it's pretty narrow. So lots of width and space around things. Any tables - like a conference table - should be at normal seated height (no dang bar tables) and "accessible" in that they don't have legs in the way of rolling a chair underneath them. (Look at any food court or fast food restaurant until you find the "accessible" table and you may see what I mean. A tiny two person table with a big central pillar means I can't roll all the way underneath the table; a wide table with the legs on either side works.) Another big thing: no high cabinets. I have standing privilege, but I wouldn't want to have to use it frequently at work. Maybe the building/rooms have windows at the upper height, so there's no "kitchen cabinet" type high shelves or cabinets that would be out of reach.
Big deal for manual chair users especially: the floor is smooth, not carpeted. Least resistance. (With a motor, I care a lot less, and some disabilities would prefer more soundproofing.)
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Other note: I deliberately didn't mention less wheelchair-oriented accessibility things much, like "fragrance free zone", because honestly, not all wheelies would immediately notice those things if they aren't personally affected, any more than I remember to check for a breast-feeding room half the time. (I'm very child-free.) Even access consultants will focus on the accommodations *they* need most over the ones they don't personally need. Depending on how much this character personally cares about it, they may not notice things like the air purifier or the white noise generator or the Braille labels on the filing cabinets, but they WILL instantly notice annoying stairs everywhere, that the ramp is out back behind the dumpsters, a nasty shag carpet that slows them down, a "handicapped stall" being used for storage, and the like.
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1. Doors are evil. Can you get in and out without scraping the chair against the frame? Does the door have an automatic closer than tries to slam shut while you're only halfway through? Does it not have an automatic closer so it blows wide open out of your reach? Is there a threshold noticeable enough to impede chair movement? Automatic doors are the best, but very rare outside of hospitals and grocery stores/malls.
2. Smooth floor or low carpet vs. thick carpeting that tries to eat your wheels and imitate quicksand.
3. Enough space to turn the chair around without whacking your feet against the wall/furniture/door frame. Bathrooms are particularly bad about this, since the tendency is to cram as many stalls into as small a space as physically possible.
4. Counters low enough for someone in a chair to speak to the people behind them without feeling like you're shouting up a cliff, and also low enough to rest documents on for easy signing.
5. Not a physical feature, but also very important! If the wheelchair user has a friend or companion with her, do the staff talk TO HER, or do they try to address all questions and information to the companion even if the companion explicitly says they're not the client?
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My office is pretty decently accessible after the last refurbishment, we got an award for it, my manager was involved so I know a bit about what they looked at - I'm in England so I'm not sure what of this would be standard in the states, but and the most visible or talked about things are-
The passageway area in the open plan office is marked with contrast flooring (we have very low carpet because it helps with heating and noise levels, and if I remember correctly also helps with grip for people who are less steady on tiles/surfaces which can become slippery, but it's as low resistance for wheelchairs as carpet can be) - we have light grey for most of the floor, dark grey for walkways. Helps people with visual issues be able to navigate about but also stops encroachment by people trying to add desks or lockers or hat stands because it's obvious you're sticking something in the 'path', so a wide enough space stays free for wheelchairs. It's also wide enough you can pass a wheelchair coming the other way without either of you having to wriggle about the other. The thresholds between areas are flush with the flooring.
The flooring in the loos and kitchen is textured so there's grip, it's something like vinyl but with rough bits included.
Our desks are all wide enough to get two chairs or a chair and a wheelchair under each desk. That way people who transfer into a chair to work can keep their chair easily within reach, also allows for a translator/support person if an employee needs one - it also means you can have a visitor sit with you at your desk without encroaching on anyone's space most of the time, which is handy for all of us! It means there's space for any other aids like crutches or a walker to stay with the person, so they don't have to constantly sit in a corner or ask for others to hand them their belongings.
We have height-adjustable sinks in the kitchens - the sinks can come down to the right height for someone in a wheelchair or particularly short. (Plastic pipes mean the sink can go up and down at will!)
There are touch-pads to go through all the main doors. (Accessible toilets, doors to the lifts, doors to the stairwells.) Stairwells have a safe refuge point with alcove space for someone in a wheelchair or with other mobility difficulties to wait with two assistants in case of an evacuation of the building - there's an evacuation chair in each refuge, and a communication point so they can talk to building control during an evacuation.
There's no door on the kitchen (it's only got fridges and a microwave so it's fairly low risk in terms of fire). There's a fish-bowl mirror on the ceiling by the kitchen so you can see into it so you don't run into someone carrying a hot drink or hot food, which particularly helps if you can't maneuver fast.
Accessible toilets - automatic doors on touch pads, a pull-cord for summoning assistance, and a setup with rails that can come down on either or both sides of the toilet so people can do a left-transfer or a right-transfer as they need to (some people can only go one direction). The accessible toilets are single rooms with their own entrance lobby - means you can use them if something about the main loos is not accessible for you, particularly the sound of the hand driers. Sink reachable from the toilet in case you need to use it while sat on the toilet (it's a rather narrow sink to get it close enough without getting in the way).
Also the sink taps all have large lever-type on/off and swivel for hot/cold control, so you can do it with an elbow or wrist. Likewise, all the cupboards/lockers have big bar handles that you can get your hand about if you can't grip it. Lockers at different heights (we have large square lockers stacked in threes - people who struggle bending have higher ones, the middle ones are the right height for people in wheelchairs).
All the hand-driers are ones which blow when your hands are under them, not the ones you stick your hands into and pull them out of, as those can be particularly difficult if you're in a chair (the angles tend to be atrocious) or if you're maneuvering with crutches - and they're all strong enough you don't need to rub your hands together to dry them so you can use them one-handed. (This does mean they're really loud, hence the need to be able to get away from them in the accessible loo - it has one but as only one occupant is in there at a time no one else will turn one on.)
There's also an ambulant cubical in the men's and the woman's loos with rails but not large enough to take a chair.
Height-adjustable desks every other bank of desks as standard (we have a guy who is 6'6" in our team whose legs don't fit under the standard desks - going up can be as important as going down.) Monitors on adjustable arms so they can be raised, lowered, brought forwards or pushed back really easily while seated. Good desk chairs. There are a lot of people with footrests - I have an arm support which screws onto the edge of my desk because the arms of my chair are too wide for me to use while typing. There's a pretty high number of people with ergonomic keyboards or mice of varying kinds, and a couple of people dictating.
Braille on all doors/push pads, on the end of handrails on stairs (labeling the floors), and on the buttons in the lifts.
We have a ramp and a lift and a part of the stairs with handrails either side so you can get to the front of the building - and no revolving doors as they aren't accessible for a lot of people, so there's two sets of automatic double-doors to get in. The reception desk has sections at different heights, including wheelchair height and standing height, so everyone has somewhere they can see the receptionist and somewhere they can lean to sign in if they're a visitor.
Uh, sorry for the length of that! Hope some of it might be slightly useful.
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One supplementary point nobody else has raised: one particular environment has to be properly designed for disabled people in general and wheelchair users in particular—nursing homes!
Pretty much all the affordances described by other folks below (except desk/work/office-specific fixtures like variable-height/wheelchair accessible desks) feature in a nursing home, because if they don't (a) they're in breach of regulations and stand to lose their certification (and customer base), and (b) most of the residents can't function without them. Sliding doors? Check. Low-resistance carpet or high-grip floor? Check. Disabled toilets dimensioned for wheelchair users plus helpers? Check. Good lighting and high-contrast colour schemes? Check. And so on.
So if you get a chance to visit a nursing/rehab/care home, maybe take some notes?