A ramp is a measurement problem before it is a purchase. The box will tell you what the ramp holds and how long it is. It will not tell you whether it reaches your door, or whether the person in the chair can turn at the bottom without a fight.

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Measure the rise

Measure from the ground at the bottom of the steps, or at the lowest point the ramp will meet, up to the threshold of the door the ramp will serve. Use the actual threshold, not the top step, because a sill or a raised doorway adds height. Write the number on paper with its unit. Take it twice and check that the two numbers agree before you go further.

Work the slope

A common guideline is one inch of rise for every twelve inches of run. Multiply the rise in inches by twelve and you have the length of ramp the slope needs. A four-inch rise needs about four feet of ramp at that guideline. A taller rise needs a longer run, or a landing partway up, and the product description should say how it handles that. Check the length the ramp will take up in your yard or walk, including the bottom end, where the chair must turn.

Leave room at the door

The top of the ramp needs a flat landing deep enough that the door can open without the chair rolling off the edge. Measure the depth of that landing and the swing of the door together. If the door opens toward the landing, count the swing as space you cannot use. Confirm that the ramp is wide enough for the chair with room for a hand on each side, and that the doorway itself is wide enough for the chair with the person in it.

Check the load

Ask the supplier for the rated weight, then count what the ramp will carry at one time: the chair, the person in it, and whoever is pushing. Add anything else that goes up it, such as a stretcher or a section of a delivered bed. A rating for the ramp alone is not the number that matters. Ask whether the surface has a non-slip finish and what the maker says about rain and ice.

Name who checks it

Before the ramp is set, decide who will look at its connection and surface each week, and write that name on the same page as your measurements. If you are not sure who supplies ramps near you, the Local Help for Hospice Families page is a place to start the search.