Does an automatic door make a building accessible?

It's a major part of it, but not automatically. The door also needs reliable detection for all users, appropriate speeds, a level and clear approach, and, where relevant, a genuine accessible alternative to any revolving door. An automatic door set up poorly can still exclude people.

Why does a revolving door need a second door next to it?

Many people cannot use a revolving door, including wheelchair users, people with pushchairs, and anyone moving large items. An accessible alternative alongside it is essential, and it needs to be genuinely usable and clearly signed, not a token side entrance.

Can an entrance become less accessible over time?

Yes. Sensors drift, speeds get changed, and components wear. An entrance that was accessible when installed can gradually stop detecting some users reliably or start closing too quickly. Regular servicing keeps it performing as intended.

Isn't accessible design only relevant to a small number of people?

No. The features that make an entrance accessible, reliable detection, sensible speeds, a clear level approach, make it easier for almost everyone, including parents with buggies, people with luggage, and anyone carrying something. It's simply better design.

ACCESSIBILITY  ·  INCLUSIVE DESIGN

The Entrance Is Where Accessibility Is Won or Lost

A building can be beautifully designed inside and still fail the people it is meant to serve, all at the front door. For many, the entrance is the moment a building says either "you're welcome here" or "this wasn't built with you in mind."

Accessibility is often thought of as a set of features scattered through a building: a lift here, a ramp there, an accessible toilet somewhere on each floor. But there is one point every single person has to pass through, and it comes before any of those. The entrance.

If the entrance does not work for someone, nothing else in the building gets a chance to. That makes it the single most important accessibility decision most buildings make, and one that is surprisingly easy to get half right.

Why the entrance matters more than any other point

Every other accessible feature in a building assumes you have already got in. The entrance is the one thing with no alternative. A person who cannot open a heavy manual door, or manage a revolving door with a pushchair, or reach a stiff handle from a wheelchair, is stopped before they have begun, in full view of everyone else walking straight through.

That is why an automatic entrance is so significant. Done well, it removes the barrier entirely and does so invisibly. Nobody has to ask for help, wait for someone to hold a door, or announce their difficulty. They simply walk, or wheel, straight in like everyone else. That dignity is the whole point.

Where entrances quietly fall short

Having an automatic door is not the same as having an accessible one. The gap between the two is where good intentions often come undone.

DETECTION THAT MISSES PEOPLE

Sensors set up for an average adult walking at average speed can miss a wheelchair user, someone moving slowly, a child, or a person of shorter stature. If the door does not reliably detect someone, it is not accessible to them, however modern it is.

DOORS THAT OPEN TOO SLOWLY, OR CLOSE TOO FAST

An entrance that closes quickly is a hazard for anyone who moves slowly or needs more time to pass through. Opening and closing speeds are not just a comfort setting. They are a safety and accessibility one.

REVOLVING DOORS WITHOUT A REAL ALTERNATIVE

A revolving door cannot be used by many wheelchair users, people with pushchairs, assistance dog owners, or anyone carrying or moving something large. Where there is one, there must be an accessible alternative alongside it, and it has to be a genuine, usable, clearly signed door, not an awkward side entrance that feels like an afterthought.

THRESHOLDS AND APPROACH

Even a perfect door fails if the approach to it does not work: a lip at the threshold, a slope that is too steep, or a surface that is hard to cross. The entrance is the door and everything immediately around it.

Accessibility and everyone else

There is a point worth making that often gets missed. Designing an entrance to work for people with specific needs makes it better for absolutely everyone.

The automatic door that helps a wheelchair user also helps the parent with a buggy, the delivery driver with a trolley, the traveller with a suitcase, and the person carrying coffees for the office. Reliable detection, sensible speeds, and a clear, level approach are simply good design. The features that make a building accessible are the same ones that make it easy and pleasant to enter for the whole population passing through it.

Keeping it accessible over time

Accessibility is not a box ticked once at installation. It is a condition that has to be maintained.

Sensors drift out of calibration. Speeds get adjusted. Components wear, and a door that opened perfectly two years ago may now hesitate or close too quickly. An entrance that was fully accessible on the day it was fitted can quietly stop being so, without anyone deciding it should. Regular servicing is what keeps the accessibility that was designed in from slipping away unnoticed.

For the people responsible for a building, that turns accessibility from a one-off achievement into something dependable, an entrance that keeps welcoming everyone, year after year, because it is kept in the condition that lets it.

Frequently asked questions