I recently started a new job at a large profitable company with established ergonomic procedures and budgets. At my last job, I had never been offered any sort of special accommodation to get a chair that fit me besides offering a foot rest. It was plainly obvious upon starting my job that the standard office chairs, while a nice chair, would not suit my needs as it was way too deep.
Finding the Right Task Chair
After the obligatory ergonomic eval for new hires, the ergonomist said she would order me a petite task chair that would most likely fit me well. I waited a few weeks and the new chair showed up. Not surprisingly, it did fit better, but I was unable to sit back and have my legs bend at the knee. Many little people order the Adaptive Living ErgoChair online to solve this problem, but it’s very expensive fully decked out and is not the most attractive chair out there. Dwarf Mom had one of these chairs at her last job (unfortunately they didn’t let her take it home after she no longer worked there).
After some Internet searching and measuring on the petite chair, I found that there are a couple large office furniture companies that make 15″ depth task chairs (generally called petite task chairs). They look great as they are part of the standard designer ergonomic office chairs, and are not too expensive.
AllSteel Relate
One chair is the Allsteel Relate. It looks really nice and comes in a variety of fabric options and colors for the frame. The seat pan is extremely easy to slide forwards and backwards, and slides all the way back to give you a 15 inch depth. This is the chair that my work ended up purchasing and I accompanied it with a foot rest and it works great. We are thinking about buying a couple of these chairs for our home office. Unfortunately you need to go through a specialized distributor to purchase this chair, but it’s worth it. My company’s price on the standard black Relate Chair was under $400.
SitRite Ergonomic Office Kids Chair
We purchased the SitRite Ergonomic Office Kids Chair for our dwarf son and it fits him well.
- Ergonomic cushioned back support
- Thick padded slidable seat depth adjustable to 1.7 inches front and back with locking mechanism
- Height adjustable from 17.25 to 19.75 inches with silent gas lift cylinder and full 360° swivel
- Detachable footrest and rounded armrest for added support and comfort
- Urethane wheels with attachable wheel covers for protection and movement lock
Neutral Posture XSM
The Neutral Posture XSM chairs come in both a mid-back (XSM5300) and high-back (XSM8300) model. They are specifically designed to fit people from 3 to 5 feet tall! If you get the seat with the short cylinder, it adjusts down to a 15 inch depth. This chair has adjustable arm height, width and optional 360 degree armpad rotation as well as an inflatable lumbar.
- Perfectly proportioned to fit petite users.
- Features a mid back, minimal contour, petite seat, 26" five-star nylon base, carpet casters, 5" cylinder, inflatable lumbar, seat slider, multi-function mechanism and 5-way 360 degree arms.
- Offers 9 active ergonomic adjustments.
- Package dimensions: 24.0 inches (H); 28.0 inches (L); 26.0 inches (W)
Online Shopping for Short-Depth Task Chairs
If you know of a good online store for short depth task chairs, please let us know!
Comments 2
Looking for a short depth task chair. I am a dwarf under 4″ and I need a office chair. Where can I order one from
We have used one of these two chairs in an office setting. Our favorite is most customizable between the two. The Sitmatic Little Person chair is the most luxurious. If you find a Sitmatic Rep at an ergonomic store, you can have them customize anything from the foam to the fabric.
The ErcoChair for Little People is the one we’ve used in an office. It fits well overall. Two concerns are the width of the seat pan and the comfort of the material. Otherwise, it works well.