Legislated provisions in dealing with disabled persons under the country’s Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) have mandated local principalities. This is to allow physically or medically handicapped persons on wheelchairs the mobility freedoms afforded by ramps.
This will provide easy ingress and egress to and from elevated walkways and access points in both public and private places. These wheelchair ramps are simple inclined planes that bridge walkways and entrance/exit points of different elevation instead of using stair steps.
The objective is basically to allow wheeled contraptions like shopping carts, baby strollers and wheelchair-bound persons easy unhampered access between elevated or depressed surfaces on walkways and entrance/exit points to buildings and structures both public and private.
Ramps can be permanent or portable. Most access points to buildings and public places and structures have them permanently paved as part of cemented walkways and streets. Local ordinances on building and road/street construction already mandate these ramp structures complete with specifications like maximum angles of incline and the provisioning of handrails at the right height and landings to facilitate their use.
They are also specified to have protective edge barriers and curves to prevent users from slipping off these ramps and the materials to be used so that water does not build-up on them.
Outdoor wheelchair ramps specifications have also been mandated to have minimum widths that accommodate both wheelchairs and enough room for passing. There should be no protruding structures in the way and should have proper directional signage in plain view.
On the other hand, there are portable wheelchair ramps that is generally marketed for personal use by wheelchair users to allow easy ingress and egress from private vans, SUVs and cars as well as in homes and private dwellings.
They come in different designs that can suit special requirements for storage and deployment. There are bariatric multi-paneled, single and multi-fold ramps that are often the least expensive and most commonly used for both wheelchairs and disability scooters.
There are roll-up ramps that are easier to deploy. Most good portable ramps have non-slip surfaces made of lightweight but durable materials for safety and easy portability. There are also telescopic or foldable glide paths or 2-track ramps that feature 6-inch tracks to match the widest wheel. These are generally preferred in mini-vans and may be offered as optional accessories when purchasing road vehicles.
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