visitability

(viz.it.uh.BIL.i.tee)

n.

The extent to which a building is accessible to the disabled.

Example Citation:

The three basic components of visitability are an entrance with no steps, ground-floor hallways and doorways wide enough for wheelchairs, and a ground-floor bathroom big enough for a wheelchair to enter and turn around.

— Jodi Wilgoren, "Wheelchair Users Achieve Milestone in 2 Ordinances," The New York Times, February 7, 2002

Earliest Citation:

So what do disabled people want out of new houses, and how much is it going to cost? The Advisory Group is currently working with the National House Building Council — the body which oversees design and building standards in the private sector — to thrash out the bare minimum requirements for 'visitability,' and their cost.

— Tim Roberts, "How the wheelchair can win access to builders' blueprints," The Guardian, October 26, 1985

Notes:

Thanks to subscriber James Callan for telling me about this word.

Related Words:

diff-ability

handicapitalism

mentally challenged

physically challenged

Category:

Housing and Architecture