Access in a home means that the home is flexible enough to meet all occupants' needs. The individual with a disability should not be surrounded by obstacles or unnecessarily dependent. Research done at the Institute for Technology Development described four needs that homes provide: Privacy, belonging, control, and safety.

Often people worry that making a home accessible will cause it to look like a hospital. Accessibility modifications do not have to be unattractive as evident in universal design, a building concept that focuses on adaptability as an overall design feature.

Inexpensive home modifications include rearranging furniture, converting door knobs to levers, changing door hinges for better pivot, and installing ramps. Before making any change, define the problems, determine what is to be public and private space in the house, know the necessary door width if using a wheelchair, and get published standards for wheelchair clearance and accommodation.

There are many design features that can make a house more accessible. Some of these are: