The current Disability Discrimination Act means it is the responsibility of all owners of public buildings and providers of services to make sure their building is accessible to everyone.

People, regardless of disability, age or gender, should be able to gain access to buildings and to gain access within buildings and use their facilities, both as visitors and as people who live or work in them.

One of the main barriers in any building to that level of accessibility is the stairs – and that’s where wheelchair lifts come in. Wheelchair lifts provide the access that wheelchair users – and the law – require in public buildings.

Wheelchair lifts are an ideal solution for both wheelchair users and building owners wishing to provide the best possible facilities for disabled people. One of the most well-known providers of wheelchair lifts is DDA Lifts, whose website – www.ddalifts.com – gives an excellent guide to the kinds of wheelchair lifts available and where these wheelchair lifts are best used in your building.

The wheelchair lifts you select for your building need to fulfill certain criteria. Wheelchair lifts, of course, need to fulfill the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, and they also need to comply with all other relevant legislation.

On top of that, wheelchair lifts need to be convenient and comfortable to use, and wheelchair lifts also need to look good and complement the design of your building. Finally, wheelchair lifts need to be cost-effective, so you get an effective wheelchair lifts solution at a price that is suitable to your business.

Wheelchair lifts such as those on offer at the DDA Lifts site are platform wheelchair lifts designed to rise and descend to different heights and depths. Some wheelchair lifts can lift to a height of up to 15m, while others are suitable for lesser distances as low as 0.5m.

Some wheelchair lifts have an integral cabin, while others are not enclosed. You can also get wheelchair lifts with a drive-on short side platform for use in difficult spaces – often a problem in older buildings built long before the current legislation came into force.

Wheelchair lifts are available in a number of finishes, including stainless steel and glass for a sleek, modern look suitable to the most up-to-date of offices and other buildings. Robustness is an important factor when choosing your life – it should serve your building for many years.

Whether your need is for internal or external wheelchair lifts, varieties of wheelchair lifts are available that mean the minimum amount of building work is required to put the wheelchair lifts into successful operation.

But how do you know which of the many wheelchair lifts on offer will be the most suitable for your building? Experts such as DDA lifts can offer expert help in choosing wheelchair lifts.

If you buy wheelchair lifts from DDA Lifts, the company makes sure it fully understands the problem and current building design before recommending a wheelchair lifts solution.

DDA can work from your architect's drawings or from visiting your site to see the location where their wheelchair lifts will be sited. The company can then project manage the installation of the wheelchair lifts at every stage of the building work to ensure any problems are identified and resolved at the earliest stage.

Once DDA Lifts is sure it has the right wheelchair lifts solution for a particular building, it will draw up a quote for specific wheelchair lifts equipment and associated building work for the building owner’s consideration.

Of course, it’s a good idea to consider all the options for wheelchair lifts, so DDA Lifts also recommends alternative solutions for wheelchair lifts wherever possible.

Installing the right wheelchair lifts in your building delivers a number of benefits. First, wheelchair lifts overcome the access problem in your building so wheelchair lifts help you to achieve compliance to the Disability Discrimination Act.

Second, good and reliable wheelchair lifts create increased customer satisfaction – wheelchair lifts are not just popular with wheelchair users but also with people who struggle to walk up stairs and also those with baby buggies.

Wheelchair lifts also play a valuable and necessary part in helping you create an inclusive workforce where people unable to climb stairs are not discriminated against and can play a full role in your business.

Choose the right wheelchair lifts and you create a long-term solution that will continue to benefit your building for years to come, boosting your business as well as helping you to comply with important legislation.