Lesson 22 : Principles of Designing Interiors for the Visually Impaired
Doors
Hinged doors should open inwards from busier areas like foyers and dining rooms to quieter areas like offices and bedrooms. It is important that doors do not open into corridors.
Hinged doors are generally appropriate although a sliding door could be considered if the use of a hinged door would create safety problems. It is however, more helpful to people with vision impairment if they can expect each door within a building to have standardised locations for door handles, signage and locks.
The minimum clear openings of doorways should be 800mm. An appropriate height for a door knob or door handle is 1000mm.
Doors should to be hinged so that they can be either closed or fully open at 90 degrees or 180 degrees against a wall (Figure 4). If this is not possible, then door closers may be used. Devices such as delayed action door closers, rising buff hinges and the like are suitable.
In making the decision about which way the door should open into a room, the most important factor is the resting position of the door, if inadvertently left ajar. For this reason a door should be opened so that it can be in contact with the nearest wall. In this way 90-degree positions are preferable to 180-degree positions.
Figure 4Doors should to be hinged so that they can be either closed or fully open at 90 degrees or 180 degrees against a wall
Completely glazed doors are a potential hazard. Frameless or fully glazed doors and the like shall be clearly marked for the full width of the door with a line not less than 75mm wide at a height between 900 mm and 1000mm above the plane of the finished floor. If possible the marking chosen should contrast in colour, with the background colours behind the glass.
Automatic opening doors pose few difficulties for people with vision impairment once they know the door is there. If the doors are completely glazed, they can be harder to detect, however, the auditory cues provided by a self-opening door can be helpful. The door should be adjusted to open quickly enough to allow the person to pass through without significantly altering their walking pace. A tactile indicator placed in front of the door can also complement the auditory cues.
Single and double swinging doors that swing beyond the neutral position are not recommended. Revolving doors can be very disorienting and should not be used.
