Accommodating Disability When Working at Home

Editor's Note: This piece is part of a series, Working from Home, in which StartupJournal speaks with people about how they manage working from home. This week, Rosemarie Rossetti, a public speaker and communications trainer in Columbus, Ohio, tells writer Mark Henricks about her set-up. A bicycle ride ended in a wheelchair for Ms. Rossetti, when a tree fell on her during a 1998 outing. Many aspects of her life have changed, including her home office. Here's how she reconfigured her two-story home and her office to accommodate her disability, and her plans for further improvements.

I have a spinal-cord injury and need a wheelchair for mobility. I run two businesses out of my home office and have a part-time assistant. My husband, Mark, also works in another home office as an Internet-marketing specialist and Web designer.

Six weeks after my injury, I came home and realized I could not roll my wheelchair under my office roll-top desk. That was my favorite desk, bought as a present to myself when I got my Ph.D. from Ohio State. I thought, "I can't sell that desk. But I can't work at it."

The first challenge, though, was to get inside the house. Funding from the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation paid for an electronic vertical platform lift and modified my porch, so I could get into my house independently. My bedroom is on the house's main floor, but I haven't been able to get to my guest bedroom, my guest bath, or my husband's office, which are all on the top floor.

Before my accident I was still using a 12-foot-by-12-foot room for my home office, and you need a five-foot turning radius for a wheelchair. I didn't have that kind of space in my home office, so we set up my laptop computer in the dining room.

Also, the file cabinets were too tall, and the keyboard tray on my desk was in my way. I kept inventory, files and stationery in the basement, and we couldn't retrofit the basement for the wheelchair.

The Bureau of Vocational Rehab brought in specialists to look at my home office. They decided to take out the roll-top desk and put in a table instead. That was tough. They also took out the tall file cabinets and brought in two-drawer file cabinets. We moved the keyboard tray, so I was able to roll up to the computer again.

Everything in my office has been reorganized, so the files I don't need often are higher up. We also had to purge a lot of stuff and put it in file boxes and put it in the basement. A small library in my office had to go downstairs. Business marketing materials, brochures, envelopes, leaflets -- because there wasn’t enough space in the dining room, we had to take a look at how much to store in the house, and the rest went into the basement.

We keep small inventories up here, but I still had to put a lot of material out of reach in the basement. That's where my husband comes in. Every day, there's something I have to tell him to go get or to put down there. It's fortunate he works at home. Right now my assistant works on the kitchen table with a laptop when she's here, so that part of the house is torn up three days a week.

I have a new home on the drawing boards, with three home offices. Two will be on the main floor, and there will be one for my assistant on the lower level, with an elevator, so I'll finally be able to go down there.

It is going to be a model home, a standard others can learn from, for builders, architects, interior designers, lighting designers and others. We're showcasing the best practices and products. We are calling the new home the Universal Design Living Laboratory. It's already been researched for seven years, using this house as the point of frustration.

Here's a list of Ms. Rossetti's best practices for home-office accommodation.

Single-level design: Place as many elements as possible on the ground floor, including office, meeting areas, dining and break rooms, bathroom and bedroom.

Flooring: Use tile or other hard flooring instead of carpet to make it easier to roll a wheelchair and reduce likelihood of tripping.

Work surfaces: Arrange desk and worktables in a cockpit, so a user can swivel a wheelchair to reach any surface. If movement is required, minimize the distance by placing a desk and work surfaces as close as possible.

Files and storage: Make drawers and shelves low enough to reach from a wheelchair or scooter. Make doorways for closets and other storage areas wide enough to accommodate walkers and wheelchairs. Use sliding doors for easier access to storage rooms and closets.

Keyboards and mice: People in wheelchairs are prone to carpal-tunnel syndrome, so place keyboards and mice to avoid stressful angles on hands and wrists. Place keyboards over users’ knees, so users can work upright. Put mice on nearby platforms to minimize reaching. Consider cordless keyboards, mice and trackballs, and use pads to support wrists and arms.

Power outlets and connections: Bring electrical plugs, telephone and other connections from under and behind tables and desks. Place electric strips and surge suppressors so workers can easily plug and unplug equipment.

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