Accessible Entrances & Doors

The ADA requires that at least 60% of all public entrances be accessible. In addition, these specific entrances must always be accessible:

• At least one entrance connected to an accessible route from the parking lot, sidewalk, or public transit stop
• Entrances to each tenant space in a building with multiple businesses (like a strip mall)
• Entrances from parking garages and tunnels or elevated walkways
• Restricted entrances (employee-only, loading docks) that are not public — but at least one must be accessible if employees with disabilities use them

If your main entrance has steps and no ramp, you must provide an accessible alternative and post directional signagepointing to the accessible entrance.

When an accessible door is open 90 degrees, the clear opening must be at least 32 inches wide. This is measured from the face of the door to the opposite door stop.

Important details:

• A standard 36-inch door typically provides about 32 inches of clear width when open — just meeting the requirement
• Double doors: At least one leaf must provide 32 inches of clear width independently
• Nothing can protrude more than 4 inches into the clear width between 34 and 80 inches above the floor

A wheelchair user needs floor space on both sides of a door to position themselves, open the door, and pass through. The amount of space depends on how you approach the door:

The floor in these clearance areas must be level(maximum slope of 1:48 or 2%) so a wheelchair doesn't roll away while the person opens the door.

Door hardware must be usable with one hand and without tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist. This means:

• Round doorknobs do not comply. They require a grasping and twisting motion that many people with arthritis, limited hand strength, or paralysis cannot perform.
• Lever handles are the most common compliant option
• Push/pull bars, U-shaped handles, and loop handles also comply
• Hardware must be mounted between 34 and 48 inchesabove the floor

A door threshold is the raised strip at the bottom of a doorway. Under the ADA:

• New construction: maximum 1/2 inch high
• Existing/altered buildings: maximum 3/4 inch, but it must have beveled edges on both sides (no steeper than 1:2 slope)
• Sliding doors: maximum 3/4 inch

Even a 1-inch threshold can be impassable for someone using a wheelchair or walker. This is one of the most common — and easiest to fix — ADA violations at entrances.

If a door has an automatic closer, it must close slowly enough for a person with a disability to pass through safely. The rule: it must take at least 5 secondsfor the door to swing from 90 degrees open to 12 degrees from closed.

A fast-closing door can strike a slow-moving person, knock over someone using a walker, or slam on a wheelchair before the person is through. This is a common violation that can be fixed simply by adjusting the closer mechanism.