We often think of "Robust Design" as physical safety, but it applies equally to support systems, customer service, and workflow. My philosophy on this was solidified by an accidental stress-test I performed in college.
In college I would unicycle around campus. It was a wheeled conveyance that I could walk into class and seat next to me. I got to a point that I could unicycle almost anywhere, in buildings etc... To the elevator, then off to the parking lots.
A unicycle has no need for a ramp. However, the fact that I could get to many places was due to wheelchair access. I definitely didn't need to use the unicycle, but in unicycling I found places that I could NOT go... or which required extra work not feasible to an average wheelchair user.
The cleaning staff has a riding floor cleaner. It is heavy and bulky. One particular building had only a staircase in the opening. If someone in a wheelchair wanted to sit in the top row, they could use that door. There was a half staircase up and a half down, immediately, beside the classrooms.
To get to the lower part of the class, the front row, or to anywhere else, you had to wheel down the sidewalk 200 feet, then a side door with no door opener, then back to the front. The signs on the wall said "accessible restroom second floor" as well... which means wheeling down the other way to an elevator to come back up to the restrooms on the second floor (above the half staircases of that main front entrance).
Now... that's for people in wheelchairs. But remember, there was heavy equipment for cleaning. This was also hindered. Throughout the winter, even the "able bodied" cleaning staff had to walk this machine down salted sidewalks to the front entrance 200 ft away... then set it up, ride it around the small front foyer (about 700sqft...) and then go back.
It exposed the machine to salt, the outdoor elements, and was a horrid inconvenience on the staff.
A robust setup helps the wheelchair bound individual, and ALSO reduces fatigue on the equipment used to clean the buildings, reduces effort needed for the same work in every other building, and otherwise doesn't inconvenience any individual at any point (carrying trays, heavy things, carts, displays, equipment).
It's not about making way for "one type" of person, but recognizing that one or two changes can have a positive impact on both those that NEED it all the time, and those that need it sometimes. If "ugly design" is a concern... then they've probably never noticed an ugly elevator or staircase (there are many). If a staircase can match the decor, so can a ramp, so can a door opener.
Lazy design is one that doesn't think. It doesn't think of the one in the wheelchair, nor anyone that needs something at any time.
This leans into my core operations philosophy:
We're not here to coddle or pander to someone. I don't expect a company owner to be following a staff around with a bucket, holding it while they mop... but I do expect if someone says "go mop this floor" to at LEAST not put a hindrance in their way. People are paid to work, not work through contrived issues. People paid to go to university and get to class... not have to make their way outside just to get to the next class that is otherwise available through a poorly-designed door.
A customer asks for a "thing"—don't give them a "thing behind a wall that took extra effort to make the wall for."
There is a concept in computer science called Kerckhoffs's Principle: "A sufficiently robust system allows an adversary to know the system..."
In my world, a sufficiently robust system allows anything that needs to be done to be done without hindrance.