When it comes to making your home or business accessible, you have two main choices: ramps or vertical platform lifts. Both of these options can help anyone who uses a wheelchair, scooter, walker, or other wheeled device to access an area that stairs or other obstacles would otherwise prevent them from accessing. Ultimately, the decision of whether a ramp or vertical platform lift is right depends on the layout of the area, your budget, and your priorities. Here’s what you need to know. Ramps Ramps are probably the most common accessibility solution in homes and public areas today. You can choose from a wide variety of ramps, and at Med Mart, we offer everything from small ramps to help navigate curves, to more extensive modular ramp systems designed to bypass stairs or hills. Ramps tend to be the most economical option when you’re dealing with a small area, such as a few stairs, that you need to make wheelchair accessible. Often, ramps are designed so that you can move them. For larger ramp systems, rails and platforms help to add safety and make the ramp easy to navigate. You’ll find that ramps aren’t always the right option, though. Depending on how high a rise you need to navigate, you may need a ramp so long that there just isn’t room for it. The higher the rise, the longer the ramp needs to be, or it will be too steep to safely navigate. This calculator can help you to determine the appropriate length of a ramp that you’ll need, based on the rise at your location. Vertical Platform Lifts When space prevents you from installing a ramp, a vertical platform lift is a space-saving and convenient alternatives. Vertical platform lifts work much like elevators, carrying a person from one level to another. They take up a much smaller footprint than a ramp system, and can accommodate heights much greater than ramp systems can. There are other benefits to installing a vertical platform lift, too. They are easy to use, and some are available for both indoor and outdoor use. Many of these lifts are designed to be portable, so you could move them from one end of a stage to another to provide a variety of mobility options depending on the setup and your needs. Both safe and easy to use, these lifts are practical options for public areas but can be used in homes, too. Platform lifts tend to be more expensive than ramp systems, but they’re also designed to be long-lasting. Plus, with the financing options we offer at Med Mart, you can receive your platform lift now and pay it off gradually. Not sure which option is right for your situation? Give us a call. We would be happy to help you choose the product that’s just right for your needs.