Paralyzed Veterans of America

A Guide to Wheelchair Selection

How to Use the ANSI/RESNA Wheelchair Standards to Buy a Wheelchair

Peter Axelson, MSME
Jean Minkel, MAPT
Denise Chesney, MEBME

This book is designed to help consumers make a more educated decision when buying a wheelchair. The book provides consumers with objective information, in a easy-to-understand language, on the characteristics and performance of both manual and power wheelchairs.

For your review the first five sections may be downloaded.

To purchase the entire book please contact:

Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Distribution Center
PO Box 753
Waldorf, MD 20604-0753
888-860-7244
Cost: $19.95, plus $3.00 s/h for one copy. (Call the toll free number for info on more than one copy.)

All the information contained on this page, Acrobat PDF files, and the text file are © 1994 by the Paralyzed Veterans of America. All rights reserved. Any use of this information without the permission of the Paralyzed Veterans of America is strictly prohibited.

The materials taken from Paralyzed Veterans of America's (PVA) publication "A Guide to Wheelchair Selection" pages 1-26 are provided for personal, non-commercial education, and informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement with respect to any particular product or company. The material is not a substitute for consultation with a health-care provider regarding your particular medical condition and needs. PVA assumes no legal liability or responsibility that the information appearing on this site is accurate, complete, up to date, or useful for any particular purpose.

Please note, all of the files except the text only file (.txt) are Acrobat PDF files. Acrobat Reader is necessary for viewing this information. We recommend version. 3.0 or higher. If you need to down load it for your computer it is available free. CLICK on the logo. If you have a visual impairment and are using a screen reader, look at WheelchairNet's information and/or Adobe's information about how to translate PDF documents into text documents.

PDF Files of sections one, two, three, four, and five of this booklet.

Wheelchair Selection by Section: Download only the sections you want to read or print.

• Section One: Table of Contents, Acknowledgments, Message from PVA's director, and How to use this guide (256K .pdf file)
• Section Two: Standardized Testing and Information Disclosure (88K.pdf file)
• Section Three: General Considerations (112K.pdf file)
• Section Four: Incorporating Body Characteristics (68K.pdf file)
• Section Five: Manual Wheelchairs (140K.pdf file)

Text Only versions of sections one, two, three, four, and five of this booklet.

Guide to Wheelchair Selection: Download all sections of the booklet (Text only no graphics) (36K .txt file)

Special thanks to the Paralyzed Veterans of America for their permission to reproduce and disseminate this information via our website.

Related web sites of interest:

• Wheelchair and Seating Standards Development
• RESNA

Last Updated: 3-2-2006