Two-handed paper towel dispensers and disabled people

Factual Questions
1

I’ve seen a lot of public restrooms with paper towel dispensers that require you to pull the towel firmly down with two hands, and you only get about a 12" length of towel each time. There’s also a hand crank on the side for use when the towels get stuck inside, but it’s hard to grasp and requires a lot of force to turn.

I assume the idea is to prevent people from pulling out more towel than they need, which may be a good idea. But what about people with disabilities?

As an experiment, I turned one hand sideways and could still pull the towel down. But I have long hands, they’re reasonably strong, and I was standing up. I would imagine that if I only had one weak or small hand available, or I were seated in a wheelchair, getting the towel would be nearly impossible.

Questions:

  1. Are these things really legal for public restrooms?

  2. Are any disabled-rights groups lobbying against them?

  3. Disabled people here: How do you feel about them?

2

Interesting question. I’m not disabled, but I would guess that this is just one more of the many daily hassles that people in wheelchairs have to deal with. I would guess that one would have to learn to bring one’s own towels or would have to ask another restroom patron to get a towel for you.

I learned to have more appreciation of things like this the first time I was wheeling a baby stroller around and discovered how many places a person who had only wheels could not get to.