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Design advice.

Hi I am in the process of designing a portable wheelchair access lift and would appreciate any input from wheelchair users. I am hoping to provide a low cost portable lift to help access over a couple of steps that can be installed within 1 hour without the removal of the existing steps and operate from a battery making it a stand alone item. It sounds like a simple solution, however its been more difficult than you would think. Having looked at whats currently available on the market they all seem to very expensive or intrusive solutions which I believe should not be the case in 2019. As I am not a wheelchair user I don't want to make any assumptions, I am aware that everyone will have different levels of mobility and my lift will not provide a solution for everyone.
Replies
I went to a school event and to allow wheelchair users (me) to get down 3 steps. there was an electric lift.. I boarded it...it moved down one step...it stopped! I couldnt get off for 45 mins...till someone got it going again.
I am no engineer, so have no clue as to how to design your idea.
Good luck!
This is not as simple as you think. I was at the supermarket yesterday and navigating the place alone with a chair proved difficult. When you mention the word disability, somehow the costs are astronomical. Unfortunately I have no experience in engineering but try contacting your local university engineering department to explain what you want them to do. Perhaps they can assist you more?
Why don’t you design a survey first asking for the opinions of some wheelchair users? That way you can use the responses to the questions to help you make better choices overall. Just a suggestion.
Good luck! I think you are very kind and brave too!
I am barred from many shops, banks, dentist even, as they have `just` 2 or 3 steps outside. I do feel excluded quite often. x
If councils put access ramps/lifts at someone`s home, I believe they would want a permanent fixture., with a lot of health and safety issues.
Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.
~Maya Angelou~
Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.
~Maya Angelou~