accessible design Tag

Lighting & Ageing Eyes: Survey of 1,000 UK Over-60s on Home Brightness

Lighting & Ageing Eyes: Survey of 1,000 UK Over-60s on Home Brightness

We did not survey 1,000 over 60s and this report publishes no figures pretending otherwise. Instead Furniture in Fashion sets out why British homes fail ageing eyes: not insufficient output, but poor distribution. The ageing eye admits less light and scatters more of it, so it needs more illumination at the task while being more troubled by any bare source in view, and a single central pendant satisfies neither requirement. The report explains why a reader shades their own page under a ceiling light, recommends layered arrangements for reading chairs, kitchen worktops, mirrors, dining tables and bedsides, and gives practical positions including shade heights that keep the bulb out of the seated eye line. It also covers slower adaptation between light levels, why staircases should be switchable from both ends, and how contrast at edges, handrails and switches does work that brightness alone cannot. Colour temperature and glare control are addressed room by room....

Shoe Bench Height & Ergonomics: Sit-to-Stand Data for UK Adults & Over-60s

Shoe Bench Height & Ergonomics: Sit-to-Stand Data for UK Adults & Over-60s

Most shoe benches sold for British hallways are too low, and this analysis explains why that matters. Furniture in Fashion finds that hallway benches are frequently built around 40cm to 43cm, well below the 45cm to 47cm seat height standard for dining and occasional chairs, because the shoe compartment is designed before the seat. The lower the seat, the more acute the knee angle and the greater the effort required to stand, a difference felt most keenly by adults over 60 and anyone with knee or hip discomfort. The report sets out recommended seat heights by use case, explains why seat depth, a softened front edge and something solid to push against matter as much as height, and addresses the narrow hallway constraints that force compromise. Where a comfortable bench will not fit, separating tall shoe storage from a properly proportioned seat is the recommended alternative, an approach that usually holds more footwear as well....