I do much more than post here as far as my disability advocacy. I think that was the gist of your point.
That question is open to you too.
Many of the more recently-updated bathrooms I have been in either have the hook lower on the door as you described or the hook is on the wall above the toilet paper holder. While I have never been overly-concerned that someone was going to, uh, ***yoink my stuff ***from above the door, it is nice that the designers responded to these concerns.
Now, I do understand the door-inward issue for a wheelchair user. I used to work in an office where 6 of my colleagues were wheelchair-users, and our stalls were designed that way, too. It’s the default and yes, it takes a while to get building management to agree that the injury liability is worth the common-sense update. As Shade alluded to, what counts as ADA-compliant and what is actually beneficial and realistic for those who need accommodation can be worlds apart.
Keep in mind that my post began and ended with an acknowledgement that it may be redundant with whatever it is that you do for a living.
The gist/point is that unless you already do something that drives you bonkers with happiness and you love your job very, very much, you should recognize the drive and energy you already put into advocacy and follow your interests professionally. Any impacts you’re having now on a small scale will be magnified if you work for–or create–an organization to address the issue full time.
I’m saying “Hey! take a look at what’s driving you. Take a look at the type of things you’re trying to accomplish. Do it for a living, not just in your spare time.”
I’m pretty sure there are lots of us here who work in the non-profit sector. Note that non-profit doesn’t mean you don’t get paid; I’m not saying go out and be a monk. It generally pays less than the private sector (Mrs. Devil and I figure we’re taking in about a third of what we’d make in the private sector, but that’s a particularized set of choices), but far from minimum.
So … imagine really really really loving your job. Even if the actual work itself isn’t a hoot per se, working towards something you obviously feel strongly about is absurdly rewarding.
Take fifteen minutes to poke through idealist.org just to get a feel for what’s there. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I couldn’t agree more. Really. Thanks for the tips.
What steps are you taking? This ought to be good.
And those are LEGAL stalls. Stalls like the OP describes are ILLEGAL according to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991. Have fun here. Note the outward swinging door in Figure 30a. A cursory glance has not shown an actual requirement for outward swinging door. Perhaps congressmen back then couldn’t imagine people so stupid that they would put inward swinging doors on a toilet stall. Now people that stupid ARE congressmen.
Um, yes, I do enjoy reading building codes. Doesn’t everybody?
As far as the door swinging outward and hitting someone, most of the handicap stalls I’ve seen have been against the far wall so that shouldn’t really be a problem if you make it so the door swings toward the wall.
No, but I enjoy looking at floor plans for imaginary castles. Man, those places must suck for the disabled!
Ok, it’s been a while since I worked with ADA codes, but this is what I recall:
The ADA recommends that the door swing out when ever possible.
This said, a door may not swing into the ADA specified clear space in front of another fixture (such as a sink). The clear space of a sink is 30"x48" wide, 19" of the 48" allowed to be under the sink.
4.17.5 Doors. Toilet stall doors, including door hardware, shall comply with 4.13. If toilet stall approach is from the latch side of the stall door, clearance between the door side of the stall and any obstruction may be reduced to a minimum of 42 in (1065 mm) (Fig. 30).
Here is the ADA portion regarding stall doors. It refers to 4.13 which does not have a statement regarding opening direction.
Forget obese, she’s obviously not overweight. Or on the large end of the normal scale.
Or else has had insane amounts of luck with public washrooms, and not actually met some of the broom closets some places try to pass off as a john.
Hell, I’m right on the cusp of the *underweight *side of the BMI scale and I too have been in stalls where the door opens inward to barely clear the toilet and the only way to open it while standing inside is to straddle the seat.
Meh, I’m a healthy weight. It’s never occurred to me that anyone (not in a wheelchair) would have problems getting out of a bathroom stall, but apparently this is a common phenomenon so I guess I’ve just been lucky.
Are there handicap stalls anymore? Hold on, I ask because I never see any designation of any kind on the door or wall indicating handicapped. Sure some have a bar on them and some are larger and some have the seat higher but none of them say handicapped anymore. At least the ones I’ve seen. In any event they are handicap capable not handicapped designated, is that why the little icons of wheelchairs have been removed?
You need to visit Ireland maybe, I dunno.
I’ve felt slightly claustrophobic in some very cramped public restroom stalls, but never been totally unable to get out without straddling the toilet or whatever, as others have mentioned. HOWEVER. I often need to bring a small child with me into the stall to help them use the bathroom (okay, not so much anymore because my youngest is age 5 and can do it himself now, but still) and there are some bathroom stalls where this is simply not happening. Once, and I swear I am not making this up, we managed to get in together, but then when it was time to get out, I just couldn’t get the door open far enough with both of us in there, so I had the kid crawl out under the door. (Which he of course thought was awesome. Luckily I am not a germophobe.)
I probably could have straddled the toilet in that situation if I’d been desperate enough, but the crawl-under-the-door solution was the first one that occurred to me, so that’s what we did.
They’re wheelchair accessible and have bars to aid those with motility impairments, but those without such disabilities are not prohibited from using them. That’s why there’s no sticker.
I’m not obese. I’m 5’4" and about 120, and I often see stalls where I have to get to one side of the toilet to shut the door. I’ve seen them so narrow that I have to move my shoulder bag to hang down by neck rather than over my shoulder in order to shut the door. It’s as if they had room for two stalls and decided at the last minute tot make three, or in an older building, when they made the handicap accessible stall they didn’t want to decrease the total number of stalls so they just took 6" or so from each one.
I remember in the 70s or so when a lot of places removed the coat hooks for the reason given already. People would walk by the door and just put their hands over the top and grab your bag. Some places moved the hooks to a side wall; some never replaced them.
I came in to post something similar to this. Several times an inward-swinging door has come perilously close to knocking either me or my three-year-old into the toilet.