Own An Apartment? How To Cater To People With Disabilities
Posted on: 22 April 2020
If you own an apartment complex, you are liable to do a variety of things including making sure that your apartment is safe for tenants and that you cater to people of all different types of lifestyles. One category of people that you should cater to are those with physical disabilities, but how?
Have Handicap Parking
Having handicap accessible parking is one of the most basic things that you can do to create a disabled access apartment complex. Typically, you will have to work through your county to get designated spots and they will have to meet certain guidelines including they will have to be wide enough that a wheelchair can come out of them and that they are close enough to the apartment complex.
Have Ramps or Elevators
If you have a building that is multi-story, then you may want to consider adding ramps or elevators so that you can have renters on more than the main floor. If you don't want to go through the hassle and money involved in installing an elevator, then just make sure that the main floor apartments are wheelchair accessible and don't have any stairs that people need to go up. If there are stairs that they need to use, then you can have a ramp installed; just make sure to work with your county to get permits.
Have Wide Enough Doors
You may not think about things like the size of the door you have on your units until you are working with a tenant who has a wheelchair. You will need to make sure that at least some of your doors are wide enough to fit a large wheelchair through it without scraping the sides of the doorway. Also, make sure that the doorknobs are at a level where someone who is sitting in a wheelchair can easily use them.
Have Signs In Braille
If you want to cater to those who have a vision impairment, make sure that all of your signs around your apartment complex have braille on them so that people can read them. For instance, make sure that all of your elevator buttons have Braille on them so that people can get to what floor they need.
Creating an apartment complex that caters to those with a disability can help you create a more caring environment and comply with certain standards. To learn more about standards, reach out to the county you are working with.
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