Liz, that reminds me of the rest rooms in the Cabrini Medical Tower here in Seattle. Inside, the booths are big enough for a wheelchair and there are plenty of judiciously place grab-bars. But—the doorway into the rest room is set in a niche about the size of a wheelchair, and it's at a right angle to the hall. In other words, you can roll your wheelchair into the niche, but then you have to make a right-angle turn. Simple geometry renders this impossible. Should you be able to beam yourself and your wheelchair into the rest room via a Star Trek transporter, once you're inside, it's very well set up!

I encountered another rest room once that was marked with the blue "wheelchair accessible" placard. Inside, it had three booths, one of which was quite large enough for a wheelchair and had grab-bars. But—instead of the door swinging outward, it swung in. Right up to the edge of the toilet, making it impossible to transfer from the wheelchair to the toilet and back again. The simple expedient of rehanging the door so it swung outward would have solved the problem.

I firmly advocate that before one is allowed to hang that blue placard anywhere, or put up a sign declaring something to be "wheelchair accessible," it should be a legal requirement that several people in wheelchairs (a variety of disabilities) be asked to do a run-through and submit their comments and opinions.

Don Firth

P. S. CLICKY.