Elevator Cabs

To enhance the visibility of the door threshold, the elevator cab should have a yellow colour/brightness strip 50 mm deep across the cab door threshold, where the cab abuts the floor.

The clear width for an elevator doorway should be at least 920 mm. The elevator’s floor and floor perimeter should contrast each other in colour and brightness. Use a light colour on the floor when a dark colour is used to mark its perimeter. If the floor is dark, use a light colour to mark the perimeter and a light-coloured logo/design in the centre of the floor space (a dark floor on its own can be perceived as an empty space by a person impacted by blindness).

Elevators should be programmed so that doors will remain open for at least five seconds when summoned by a hallway’s call button. This allows time for someone impacted by blindness to reach and enter the elevator safely. When an elevator is going to a floor because someone inside the elevator pushed the floor button, the doors should stay open at least three seconds to provide sufficient time for exiting. Only the use of the “Close-Door” button from within the elevator should reduce the time that the door remains open.

The automatic sliding doors for an elevator cab should have a mechanism that will stop and reopen the elevator cab and adjacent hoistway doors to a clear width of at least 920 mm if the door is obstructed in any way while closing.

The minimum clear space inside an elevator cab, excluding return panels, should be 1,725 x 1,525 mm. This allows guide dog handlers sufficient space to turn around.

Light levels in elevator cabs should be a minimum of 200 lux. Avoid mirrors and other surfaces that produce glare.