Many disabled people can find it difficult to wash their hands at public toilets or even at home. Most sinks are too high and even if the disabled person can reach the sink there can be a struggle to turn the taps on.
Therefore you can imagine my joy when I took my niece and nephew to the toilet at London’s Westfield Shopping Centre and noticed this new modern sink.
It requires no physical strength, has plenty of space underneath for your wheelchair to get as close as possible and there are three options; Water, Soap and Heat which all detect your hands, so as soon as you place your hands under the water option, water will come out then if you move your hands under the soap section soap will come out and you can then dry both hands under the Heat option.
I sincerely hope that such sinks can be made available everywhere and not just at consumer led places and not an exclusive feature.
By Raya Al-Jadir
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This is interesting! The ones with hand sensors are often less accessible for me, because I have enough fine motor skills to turn a tap on and off, but the sensors on hands free ones are often quite high so you have to hold your hand right underneath the tap for it to work, and I find it quite difficult to hold my hands up at that level for more than a few seconds. I would usually hold them further down or rest them against the sink. Also the soap dispensers where you have to wave at the sensor with one hand and then hold the other one under the dispenser is like having to pat your head and rub your tummy for me! I’m really happy that this made the bathroom more accessible for you, but it just shows how carefully things have to be considered to make them accessible for everyone!
And my partner usually can’t get his wheelchair under sinks in disabled toilets and hotel rooms because they’re too low!