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November 2021
As a company genuinely passionate about providing independence, we pride ourselves in finding the best access solution to give people or businesses freedom. Often, an access ramp will be a great solution for you. But there are quite a few situations where you really might want (or need!) to consider a Platform Lift alternative...
Here are four of the most common reasons that a ramp might not be the right solution for you:
Having limited space is the single most popular reason people are forced to opt for a non-ramp solution.
A ramp needs to be a very specifically inclined (a ratio of 1:12 is very common in most parts of the world) to comply with building regulations, which is extremely important to the user experience with the ramp (more on this later). The more the space is limited, the more you'll struggle with this incline, because shortening the length of the ramp necessarily means the angle of the slope increases.
Platform lifts simply don't have this problem, and ours come in a wide variety of sizes and travel heights for virtually any situation. Please see the information on our Platform Lifts on this website to check those dimensions, or get in contact with us to find out more about space saving Platform Lift solutions from Wessex.
The user experience is, broadly speaking, far more of a considered factor when using a Platform Lift when compared with ramps.
Ramps are generally fairly simple in design, and getting up them, for a manual wheelchair user especially, is undoubtedly more effort than using a Platform Lift. Even in an automatic wheelchair, actually navigating the way up a ramp, especially one with any turns or tight angles, is not the nicest experience.
In contrast, the design of our Platform Lifts has been carefully considered in many different ways. We offer options for controls, and ways to use the lift, meaning you'll get the experience you want. Ultimately, a huge part of our ethos is to make people who need accessibility solutions independent in and around their homes/businesses. Sadly, a ramp will not always accomplish this goal.
This may be a minor point for many, but it something to seriously consider in certain geographic areas (our lifts are sold all over the world!).
In areas that experience extreme weather conditions, a Wessex Platform Lift is likely to be more accessible than a ramp! Snow, ice, rain, and even leaves in autumn can accumulate on a ramp and make it slippery or more inaccessible, depending on material.
In addition to being a moving platform (therefore with far less risk of sliding), all of our Platform Lifts come with a 5 year anti-corrosion warranty, so should be perfectly capable of working even under tough weather conditions.
Ramps can really blend in nicely and look subtle and great. But simply from our experience, a large reason many people decide upon a Wessex Platform Lift is for aesthetics!
This is most commonly a factor in businesses and listed buildings, but can apply to anyone. Our lifts come in a wide range of colours, with many options available to make your lift a really nice feature wherever it's installed.
Those were just a few reasons a ramp might not work for you, but if you have any concerns not listed here, we'd be happy to talk about them. Please get in contact with us on +44 (0) 1794 830303, or email sales@wessexlifts.co.uk, where you can speak to our experienced sales team about what options are available!
