How do the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards define accessible doors?

The ADA is a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. Within the act, Title II and Title III explicitly cover the accessibility of built environments—including standards for accessible doors. ADA standards have helped model codes incorporate accessibility into their scopes.

Within these requirements, ADA-compliant doors represent an essential part of accessible design. Below are some qualities the ADA requires of accessible doors:

• Most doorways must have a minimum clear opening of at least 32 inches when the door is open at a 90-degree angle.
• ADA-compliant doors must take into account and preserve maneuvering clearances, which can vary depending on context and whether it is a swinging or sliding door.
• ADA-compliant doors must also preserve and maintain approach clearances.
• Thresholds and floor-level changes cannot exceed certain heights and slopes. 
• Accessible doors need to have hardware that is easy to grasp/use and located no higher than 48 inches from the ground. 
• If the door is not automatic or power-assisted, the force needed to operate it must be below certain thresholds depending on how the door opens.
• If the door closes automatically, it must do so relatively slowly.
• Accessible doors must have a flush, smooth surface at the bottom of the push side, extending up 10 inches vertically from the floor.

How does AD Systems create ADA-compliant doors?

• AD Systems’ commercial sliding doors can feature hardware designed to operate without pinching, twisting or grasping or special knowledge per ADA guidelines.
• AD Systems ADA-compliant doors have no exposed floor track or door guides.
• Commercial sliding doors are configured to maintain required handle clearances.
• AD Systems offers multiple soft closer designs to comply with ADA and CA requirements for opening and operating force (contact us for specification information).
• AutoMotion™ automatic commercial sliding door system opens with the wave or a hand or touch of a button for quiet and hands-free operation.

How can ADA-compliant doors enhance space efficiency?

Commercial sliding doors can help designers achieve accessibility standards while also preserving usable square footage. They do this by eliminating swing arc trajectories. On the one hand, this helps specifiers meet code-driven requirements for maneuvering and approach clearances. On the other hand, commercial sliding doors require less space to accommodate minimum approach clearances.

It is important to note that accessibility standards describe minimum requirements, project teams can design more accessible buildings by going beyond these minimums. When it comes to accessible door design, sliding doors can help designers readily exceed minimum opening width requirements. While this can help contribute to more accessible interior designs, it can also support project flexibility and future-proofing a building against changing codes and occupant needs.