DESIGN OF WHEELCHAIRS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Abstract

Persons with disabilities, referred to as disabled people, are often regarded as unproductive citizens, unable to carry out their duties and responsibilities. About 15 percent of the world's population are people with disabilities - more than one billion people. They are considered the largest minority group in the world. In reality, there are not many public facilities or special services provided to persons with disabilities. One of them is in the aspect of education. In public facilities of the education sector, not many education buildings or educational providers with facilities and infrastructure that can support people with disabilities are available. As for mobility equipment that can help people with disabilities on both legs, namely crutches, walking sticks, walkers, and wheelchairs, aim to help and facilitate their mobility.However, the wheelchair that is available in the market today only has a limited function of moving left, right, and spinning. Other activities require help from others, such as reaching higher objects and moving the body from a wheelchair to another seat through the stairs/steps. Therefore we need a product design that starts from preparing product concepts from old products into a new product to meet the needs of the market/people with disabilities.