Do you need ADA braille signs for your office space? Don’t forget to follow the specific requirements for installing ADA braille signage!
If you want to make your business and office space more inclusive for visually impaired individuals, you will need to invest in ADA braille signs. According to the requirements set by the American Disability Act, you need to install tactile signs, with raised letters and braille, outside all permanent spaces and rooms. These are signs that provide labels, names, and designations for interior rooms and spaces, where the sign is highly unlikely to change.
On the other hand, ADA signs that offer directions or provide information about accessible features are not required to contain braille to meet the federal accessibility requirements. These include overhead, changeable menus, and temporary signage.
With that said, when you are installing signs outside your office space, restroom, etc., you will need to invest in braille signage and install it correctly. The ADA has set specific requirements that all businesses need to follow when installing ADA braille signage.
Here’s an overview of the requirements that you must follow for the correct installation of ADA braille signs:
Type and Shape of Braille
The ADA requires you to use Type 2 braille on all ADA signs. This type of braille is contracted, i.e., it’s a condensed form of braille that combines some letters to form common words, such as “the” and “for.” Additionally, the Type 2 braille that you use on your sign should have a rounded or domed shape instead of a pointed or flat shape.
Capitalization
You must use uppercase braille letters to designate the first word of a sentence, proper names and nouns, individual letters of the alphabet, acronyms, and initials. The rest of the text must be written in lowercase braille dots.
Position of the Braille on Your ADA Signage
The braille that you use should be placed below the corresponding text and at a distance of at least 9.5mm from all borders, characters, and decorations. For multi-line text, place the corresponding braille below the entire text. Plus, the ADA sign needs to be located at least 48 inches above ground level and 60 inches at most.
Dimension Requirements
Here are the dimension requirements for braille on ADA signs:
- The distance between two braille dots in the same cell needs to be 2.3mm to 2.5mm.
- The diameter of a dot’s base should be 1.5mm to 1.6mm.
- The height of all the dots must be between 0.6mm and 0.9mm.
- The distance between corresponding dots in neighboring cells needs to be 6.1mm to 7.6mm.
- The distance between corresponding dots from one braille cell directly under another should be between 10mm and 10.2mm.
When it comes to following the requirements set by the ADA for ADA braille signs, no one follows them more closely than SignWorks, Inc. We follow the specifications to the T to ensure that your signs are as accessible and inclusive as possible.
