The Right Space - A Wheelchair Access Guide

Albert M. Ayala is a retired building contractor. When his mother, at age 89, fractured her tibia and came to live with him and his wife, he began looking for an accessible home design guide for building and remodeling contractors. What he found was an enormous amount of text referencing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) directed him to the United States Access Board, a federal agency committed to accessible design. The board's guidelines serve as the baseline for standards used to enforce the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the ABA (Architectural Barriers Act).

Using the Access Board's relevant residential guidelines as a starting point, Mr. Ayala drew more than 300 illustrations. Those easy-to-understand isometric drawings are the heart of The Right Space: A Wheelchair Access Guide for Single-Family Homes.

The Right Space's format follows the logical path from outside to inside. With those illustrated accessibility guidelines, a homeowner, homebuilder, or remodeler travels from the sidewalk, through the front door, and into hallways, bathrooms and kitchens.

Throughout, the guide's goal is to show what accessible home design looks like. By viewing the guide's detailed drawings, both the layman and the building professional can make informed design decisions about what may well be a family's most important asset, their home.