Here's an example of how someone can get accessibility and usability horribly wrong through not using common-sense and thinking about what they are designing and how it will be used.

Virgin Trains Toilets

Have you used the new Virgin Trains? They're pretty good. Fresh, nicely done out. Pleasant decor (for trains anyway), comfortable chairs, plug sockets to power your laptop, mobile phone, etc. Saying all that, there's one area where Virgin Trains have got something that should be very simple, badly wrong. I'm talking about the toilets. To try and make them accessible for all passengers, they have made them large, with sliding doors to make access easy. An excellent idea, and a thumbs up. But where they have gone wrong, very wrong, is with the door locking mechanism.

How to use a Virgin Trains toilet door…

If you haven't used the toilets on a Virgin train, here's a quick step-by-step guide. After reading it, you will be fully Virgin toilet trained! To enter the toilets there is a button that you press to open the sliding door, then you step inside and press another button to close it. That is simple enough. Now you will want to lock the door (as to be perfectly honest, it's not really a spectator sport). This is where it gets complex. To lock the door you must wait for the sliding door to close, and then press another button to actually lock the door. It's not intuitive. There's no confirmation that the door is actually locked (if the red light is on surrounding the button does that mean it's locked or that you need to press the button to lock it?). I'm sure lots of people using the loos on Virgin trains stand there for a good wee while (pun intended), before they proceed to de-keg themselves and risk baring their nether-regions. Many times I have seen people enter the toilet, close the door, and then someone else approach the toilet (thinking it's empty I assume), press the button to open the door and be confronted by the existing occupant - followed by some hurried apologies and nervous fumbling at the door buttons. The other problem with the buttons is where they are located. They are a good few metres from the toilet itself on the wall on the opposite side to the toilet itself. This presents a problem to the occupant sitting there with their pants around their ankles if the door should suddenly open - exposing them to the rest of the passengers in the vicinity…like I said before - I wouldn't really consider it a spectator sport.

So, why are they this complex?

There are two reasons why they have these flat, touch-buttons. One is for accessibility. They are designed to be easy to use for some disabled people who might struggle with a traditional twist or slide locking mechanism. The other reason is to prevent 'pranksters' being able to press the 'lock' button and then jumping out of the cubicle before the door closes, leaving it vacant but locked, and therefore preventing others from using it. However, as we have seen, they are not easy to use for any first-time user, and what has always been a relatively simple task - locking a toilet door, has become a complex and possibly traumatic experience for some users. Although some might see it as a chance to meet new people… I'm sure that anyonee who has used Virgin Trains toilets will have experienced some confusion or difficulty when using them for the first time. There can't be many people who haven't been made to stop and think for a few seconds when confronted with these buttons. If you are one of the clever few who had absolutely no problems and didn't have to think for a good few seconds, then maybe you should consider applying for the Krypton Factor (if it was still on) to do the Intelligence spatial awareness round.

Accessibility & Usability - one for all, and all for one

With the toilet door buttons we've seen what was designed to help one set of users wasn't designed to be usable by everyone (or anyone thinking about it). Designers everywhere - please take heed. Make cars that are easy to use, TVs that anyone can use intuitively without having to read 60 pages of a manual, website designers, don't make a separate 'accessible' site - make one that everyone can use. Computer manufacturers, think about your laptop keyboard layouts!!