Shopping for clothes should be one of the more straightforward experiences in retail. You find something you like, you try it on, you decide. For most people, that is exactly how it works. For me — a full-time wheelchair user with no hand function — trying on clothes in a typical retail store is an exercise in frustration that often ends before I ever get to the merchandise.
Accessible fitting rooms are required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. They have been for decades. And yet, walk into almost any clothing retailer in America and you will find the same predictable failures: the accessible room is locked and nobody has the key, or it is being used for storage, or it technically meets minimum dimensions but was clearly never tested by anyone who actually uses a wheelchair. The law exists. The execution does not.
This matters beyond my personal experience. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly one in four adults in the United States lives with some form of disability. That is an enormous portion of the shopping public being routinely failed by one of the most basic accessibility accommodations in retail. Here is what is going wrong and how retailers can fix it.
The ADA Sets a Floor, Not a Ceiling
Before getting into the specific failures, it is worth naming the underlying problem. Accessible fitting rooms are often designed to meet the minimum ADA requirement and nothing more. The standard calls for at least one accessible room per bank of fitting rooms, with a turning radius of 60 inches, a bench, and accessible hardware. Retailers check those boxes and consider the job done.
But minimum compliance and genuine usability are two very different things. A room that technically has 60 inches of turning space is useless if the bench is bolted to the wall in a location that blocks the turn. A hook that is technically within reach range does nothing for someone who cannot grip it. The ADA tells you the floor. Inclusive design tells you how to actually serve the person standing in front of you — or in my case, rolling.
This is the same tension I keep coming back to in accessibility work, and it applies just as much to fitting rooms as it does to websites or outdoor spaces. If the only question being asked is “does this meet code,” the wrong question is being asked. The right question is: can a person with a disability actually use this independently and with dignity?
Fix 1: Stop Using the Accessible Room for Storage
This is the most common and most inexcusable failure in accessible fitting rooms. The accessible stall — the one large enough for a wheelchair — gets used to store excess merchandise, steamer equipment, staff belongings, or overflow inventory. It is treated as bonus square footage rather than as a facility that specific customers depend on.
This is not a design problem. It is a policy problem, and it is completely within a retailer’s control to fix today. Accessible fitting rooms should never be used for storage. Period. Staff should be trained to understand why, not just told what the rule is. The accessible room is not a spare room. It is the only room that works for a significant portion of your customers.
Fix 2: Keep the Room Unlocked and Immediately Available
Many retailers lock accessible fitting rooms by default and require customers to ask staff for access. The intent is usually to prevent misuse, but the effect is to place an additional barrier on disabled shoppers that no other customer faces. I should not have to locate a staff member, explain my situation, and wait for someone to find a key just to try on a pair of pants.
If locking is truly necessary for operational reasons, staff should be proactively stationed near fitting rooms with immediate access to the key — not somewhere across the store. Better still, rethink the locking policy entirely. The accessible room being available and unlocked is not a security risk. It is a basic standard of service.
Fix 3: Get the Bench Placement Right
The bench inside an accessible fitting room is one of the most misunderstood elements of the space. It needs to be positioned so that a wheelchair user can pull alongside it for a lateral transfer, and so that it does not obstruct the turning radius of the room. In practice, benches are frequently placed directly in the path of the turn, or against a wall with no clear space on either side.
The ADA provides specific guidance on bench dimensions and placement, but even that guidance benefits from real-world testing. If you have not had someone in a wheelchair actually attempt to use your fitting room bench, you do not know whether it works. This is exactly the kind of evaluation that an inclusivity assessment is designed to provide — not just a code review, but a lived-experience walkthrough that catches what a tape measure misses.
Fix 4: Audit Your Hardware and Hooks
Hooks, latches, handles, and locks inside accessible fitting rooms are frequently installed without any thought to how someone with limited hand function or upper body mobility would operate them. Small pinch-style hooks. Latches that require two-handed operation. Door locks that require a tight grip to engage. None of these work for a wide range of disabled shoppers, and all of them are easy to replace.
Hardware in accessible fitting rooms should be operable with a closed fist — no pinching, no twisting, no fine motor coordination required. Hooks should be at a reachable height for both seated and standing users. The door latch should be operable from a wheelchair with one hand. These are not expensive upgrades. They are thoughtful ones.
For a broader look at how small design details either include or exclude people, the story of magnetic buttons in luxury bags is a perfect example of how one small choice can make a product work — or not work — for people with disabilities.
Fix 5: Train Your Staff on Why It Matters
All of the physical fixes in the world lose their impact if the people working in the store do not understand why accessible fitting rooms matter or how to support customers who use them. Staff should know where the accessible room is, that it should never be used for storage, how to assist a customer who needs it without being patronizing, and what to do if the room is not functioning as it should.
Training does not need to be lengthy or complicated. It needs to be real. It should include why accessibility matters, not just what the rules are. A staff member who understands the impact of a locked or cluttered fitting room on a disabled shopper will make better decisions than one who is simply following a checklist. This is the difference between compliance and compassion — a distinction I think about a lot in this work.
The Business Case Is Simple
Retailers who get accessible fitting rooms right are not just avoiding legal risk. They are earning the loyalty of a customer base that is routinely underserved and acutely aware of which businesses actually welcome them. Disabled shoppers represent significant purchasing power, and they talk to each other. Word travels fast in disability communities about which stores are worth the effort and which are not.
Getting this right is not complicated. It requires attention, policy, and a willingness to ask whether your space actually works — not just whether it technically passes a code inspection.
Ready to Find Out What Your Store Is Really Getting Wrong?
If you are a retailer who wants to know how your fitting rooms and broader store environment actually perform for shoppers with disabilities, we can help.
Reach out to the Equal Accessibility team and let’s take a real look at your space — because accessible fitting rooms that actually work are not just good ethics. They are good business.
