upflush toilet mechanisms made for basements below the sewer level put the toilet on a box about 3.5" - 4" high; that then makes a step that a person can EITHER step up onto or NOT.
I find that perfect for families with big and small people. Too bad nobody makes that for regular bathrooms.
Now, we have to spend a lot of time figuring it out and explaining it to whoever is going to pay for it and / or have to build it.
The idea is that a half step goes under the base of the toilet, and large long legged people don't ever need to put their feet onto it. They can walk up to it and the regular floor is close enough to the toilet that they simply squat while their feet are still on the base floor.
Anyone else can either squat from that main floor too, but then opt to put a foot up onto the higher floor level available. It's really quite a natural progression. Takes no getting used to.
If you fit into children's size pants, you will step up onto the platform first.
A half step is half the height of a full step you see every day in regular stairs. A half step is dangerous, a trip hazard, anywhere except under or behind a toilet, because in that location there nobody is going to keep advancing, as they have arrrived at their destination.
You can simulate this a little bit using something like a big old phone book to put one foot onto while you squat. You can't build a simulation of the entire platform unless you find an unused toilet somewhere and place it on something steady like a pallet.
It has been reported to me that some small or medium sized people put both feet on the platform when they are sitting on the toilet, and that they feel comfortable with the approach, the stay and the descent. It's not been reported that they felt uncomfortable or too high. Some people wondered in advance if they would like it or not, and claimed that they would fell like they were perched like a bird on the edge of a wall. Later they apologized for all the fuss they caused for no reason.
So, the hard part about building this is the psychological aspect of convincing the people that they will like it. If it were sold everywhere all the time, people would consider it normal and standard.
David