36 CFR Part 1195 Standards for Accessible Medical Diagnostic Equipment - Preamble

M303.2.2 Width (Section-by-Section Analysis)

The MDE NPRM proposed to require that diagnostic equipment used by patients seated in a wheelchair provide a wheelchair space that was at least 36 inches wide. There were no public comments and no MDE Advisory Committee recommendations regarding this requirement. Thus, the final rule retains the 36-inch wheelchair space width requirement. However, the Board added a new exception for wheelchair spaces on raised platforms, as discussed in Section IV.C.1. (Significant Changes – Width and Depth of Wheelchair Spaces), and discussed briefly below.

In the preamble to the MDE NPRM, the Access Board sought input on whether an exception to the width requirement was needed for wheelchair spaces on raised platforms. Multiple commenters responded to this provision and the MDE Advisory Committee recommended reducing the width requirement for wheelchair spaces on raised platforms. The Access Board has added an exception in the final rule that permits wheelchair spaces on raised platforms to be 32 inches wide minimum with edge protection no higher than 4 inches, measured from the platform surface.