However, it's a real 'adaptation' to provide ramped access, by West Dunbartonshire Council, for wheelchair user Katie Lally. I can't imagine what they, or their neighbours, thought of this piece of grotesque 'engineering'!! Can you believe it? I know they've since posted views about it!
The last picture is my own ramped access, in brick paviors and dwarf walls - with no hideous rails! I realise that the degree of 'elevation' is not the same, but hey, what would have been wrong with a meandering path, with less obvious hand-rails!!
In addition, the photographs of my front door lock (combination lock - by Codelocks) which is all simplicity itself. Even our boys love it because they used to forget to take their keys with them (when we had a traditional mortice lock), but now all they've got to do is remember a four-digit code!! The code only needs to be changed periodically to ensure security is not overly compromised.
For some reason, many people go for a coded keysafe affixed to the wall (see sample picture), which has a key in it! The obvious issues are that the keysafe becomes a target for criminal attention, but much more readily the key might not be returned to the keysafe after use! You then end up having to 'chase' the last user (if you know who that is), to get the key returned. Although it's unlikely to happen, you also have to assume that the key has not been copied at any stage during its use!
It's not hard to deliver a solution that genuinely 'works' - if you think carefully about the alternatives (or at least, appoint a good contractor who can guide you toward a suitable solution)! In the end, you often have to compromise, in order to get the balance between user-friendliness and security.
So, what's wrong with them? Well, firstly they've gone 'grab-rail mad' - almost every conceivable position is catered for (admittedly, the one shown in this photo is not too bad) whilst other more important features have been ignored. For example, the flushing handle of toilet cisterns... Where do they locate them? You guessed it, at the furthest reachable position for a wheelchair user! Doh!! And the wash-hand basin is the smallest (kidney bean shaped) you can get. Do disabled people have tiny hands? Doh!! But back to grab-rails for a moment, very often I find that the 'rising rail' cannot be 'locked' in the 'vertical' position, so if you let go of it, it descends with a loud 'bang' and you have to hope that no part of you anatomy is 'in the way'....
OK, it's time I did some 'standard' designs that comply with all the Regs and are more likely to find acceptance by disabled users! How much should I charge LAs for these potential vote-winners??!!