The Wheelchair Guide

New ISO Standard for Electric Wheelchairs

Wheelchairs today offer increased mobility to people all over the world. Even in only the last ten years, there have been many improvements to the design and reliability of the electric wheelchair, but there are still many areas, both around the home and away, that can present an obstacle to a person using a wheelchair. In an effort to help make choosing a wheelchair based on its abilities to navigate these types of obstacles easier, a new ISO standard was recently released.

This ISO standard, ISO 7176-10:2008, is the tenth part of a of an ISO that deals with wheelchairs. Specifically, this new standard is aimed at determining the ability of an electric wheelchair, or power chair, to climb or descend obstacles. This includes curbs, doorways, uneven pavement, and other obstacles that an individual might encounter. It presents a set of test procedures to use, describes the type of equipment required to preform tests, and how to evaluate the findings.

It is hoped that with the adoption of this standard, the consumer will be able to better rate different wheelchairs and find one that specifically meets their needs. This rating will better reflect not only the overall ability of the wheelchair, but also how adept it is at driving over obstacles.

The International Organization of Standardization, or ISO, is an organization that is represented by individuals from across the world. They meet to create international standards and specifications for many types of products, including health and disability related products. Even though the organization is itself not directly tied to the government, many of their standards end up being turned into law.

The ISO 7176 is a series on wheelchairs prepared by a group of professionals and researchers of Assistive products and how these devices can be used by people in wheelchairs. It help provides a method of classifying wheelchairs based on factors like their size, weight, maneuverability, energy usage, ease of control, acceleration, overall strength, crash resistance, quality of brakes, and speed.