The GUARDIAN boats were built to order. Whether or not a 1996 GUARDIAN 22 would have a boarding ladder and what type boarding ladder it would have depends on how the boat was ordered by the customer to be custom built to the customer's specifications.
The 1996 catalogue from Boston Whaler did not list an OUTRAGE 22 as being available. Without a listing of an OUTRAGE 22 in the 1996 catalogue, to know if there was a boarding ladder as a standard accessory is impossible.
Browsing catalogues from earlier years, I don't see any images showing a boarding ladder on a classic OUTRAGE 22 boat.
I have a 1990 REVENGE 22 Whaler Drive boat. There was no standard boarding ladder. I do not believe there was an option for a boarding ladder.
I use a boarding ladder that fits on the gunwales. The ladder is awkward to stow when not in use, but the ladder is very useful for climbing aboard the boat from the water. The ladder I use is an off-the-shelf ladder. The particular ladder I bought was sold by WEST Marine. The vertical tubes of the ladder have a U-bent at the top. The ends of the vertical tubes of the ladder have a small device that fits into receptacles bolted to the gunwale. This fixes the ladder in place, which gives the ladder more stability. See
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-mar ... cordNum=11A key consideration in a boarding ladder is how deeply the bottom step of the ladder will be immersed in the water. For swimmers with less agility, having a deep lowest step on the ladder will be a great advantage in boarding the boat from the water. Buying a ladder with an extra step or two extra steps will make entry from the water easier, particularly if the swimmer is tired or is older or has less agility.
Another factor to consider is the comfort of the steps or rungs on the ladder. Typically a swimmer coming aboard from the water will have bare feet. Swimming ladders with small tubular rungs are very uncomfortable with bare feet. Having a flat surface or tread on the ladder rungs is an improvement.