Visitability is the design approach for new housing such that anyone who uses a wheelchair or other mobility device should be able to visit. A social visit requires the ability to get into the house, to pass through interior doorways, and enter a bathroom to use the toilet. Visitability stresses specific accessibility features from a social reform perspective, and counters social isolation.
Description
Newly constructed homes often contain the same major barriers as older ones: steps at every entrance and narrow interior doors, with the bathroom door usually the narrowest one in the house. Supporters want to change construction practices so that virtually all new homes, whether or not designated for people with mobility impairments, offer three specific accessibility features that will make it possible for most people to visit:
at least one zero-step entrance on an accessible route leading from a driveway or public sidewalk, all interior doors being wide enough to allow a wheelchair to pass through (approximately 81 cm or 32 in), and at least a toilet (room) on the main floor.
These features are designed around the needs of a person using a wheelchair while visiting, but they are also helpful to people with other kinds of mobility impairments. Temporary disabilities could create a need; for example, a resident could break a leg and require a wheelchair, walker or other mobility device for an extended period. Living permanently in the home with a significant mobility impairment requires two additional basic features on the main floor: a full bathroom and a bedroom (or a space that could be converted to a bedroom).
Visitability is similar to universal design in general intention, but is more focused in scope, more specific in parameters, and more explicitly grounded in a social reform intent. Neither of these are a part of the visitability standards. Visitability features make homes easier for people who develop a mobility impairment to visit friends and extended family. The consequence of not having a visitable home is usually having to turn down invitations, or not be invited at all.
These features also provide a basic shell of access to permit newly disabled people to remain in their homes, rather than forcing them to do expensive renovations, relocate to a different house, live in an inaccessible home that endangers their health and safety, or move into a nursing home.
Specific goals
A focus on single-family homes instead of public buildings. Access to new public buildings, such as government offices and restaurants, is typically already required under various national laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in the United States. Outside of the UK, single-family homes are the one kind of building which is still routinely constructed without regard to access. Every home instead of just "special" homes. Being able to attend the party is better than isolation, or the risk of being "helped up the steps." People who use wheelchairs or walkers, or are impaired by stiffness, weakness or balance problems are blocked by steps at every entrance of a home. Wheelchair users are stopped by inches from fitting through the bathroom door in a friend or relative's home. Narrowing the emphasis to the most essential features, which are: entering a home, fitting through the interior doors, and being able to use a toilet. While there are many possible or desirable features, strongly prioritizing the few features which are most crucial to visiting or residing in a home greatly increases the likelihood of widespread construction change.
Basic access goes beyond visiting. It also helps a person of any age who develops a temporary or permanent mobility impairment. Without basic access in place, architecture forces severe choices: Expensive renovations, assuming that the necessary changes are possible. Being unable to enter or exit the home independently, or to use the bathroom at all. Moving to another home or to a nursing home or other specialized facility.
These issues can apply equally to a person who is recovering from surgery, or to a person who has used a wheelchair for decades.
New construction issues
Zero-step entrances on new homes are nearly always easy to construct, whether the terrain is flat or hilly. The entrance can be constructed at the front, side or back, wherever is most feasible for the topography. A driveway or sidewalk can be a tool for access to the best entrance. Porches and decks can be used to incorporate access, often in a manner that is not as obvious as many ramps. The key to accessibility is including access in the planning stage.