Giving mobility freedoms for the handicap won’t be complete without ramps and lifts that allow wheelchair-bound invalids unhampered movement over walkways with differing elevations or to places accessible only through stairs. mobility ramps and lifts also allow them easy access to/from both public and private transport modes.

Legal Mandate

With the Disability Discrimination Act recognizing the mobility freedoms of the disabled and mandating unhindered access to public places and building entrance and exit points, the demand for ramps has never been as compelling.

Where stairs are the only means of access, ramps and lifts are required. New buildings and structures where the public has access are specified to allocate ramps with rails to allow safe and easy access by wheelchair-bound invalids.

Ingress and egress points to public places, airports, buses, trains and ocean vessel terminals are mandated to have ramps and lifts for this purpose. These ramps are required to have corresponding directional and identifying signage within easy reading.

Construction specification for ramps in public places is also defined by legal fiat. Aspects like the slopes and widths as well as the requirement for side rails to prevent accidentally falling on the sides have been defined. The DDA mandates a 1:6 maximum slope for temporary ramps for caregiver-assisted manual wheelchairs and 1:12 slope for self-powered wheelchairs. Permanent ramps in public places are mandated no more than 1:15 slopes.

Increasing Mobility

Whether legally mandated or not, for households with a handicap family member, mobility ramps for cars have become a necessary transport accessory. Homes with differing elevation separating a kitchen from the living or other parts of the house, ramps are indispensable to allow a handicap family member to move around, whether on manual or electric powered wheelchairs.

Where ramps cannot be made permanent, there are portable mobility ramps available that are collapsible and portable. This is often the preferred solution for families that need to have one to allow a disabled member to get in and out of vans or cars, or enable access to places where ramps are not permanently built.

There are various types that include the more popular telescopic track type of ramps that can be custom-fitted in fans and SUVs consisting of two tracks that extend out from the vehicle to the road. There are also roll-up flexible ramps as well as multi-foldable ramps made of small panels that when deployed can bridge elevated walkways 2-6 inches high that would make it difficult for wheelchairs to traverse.