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Life is complicated for individuals living with a disability. For some, physical activity is limited. Others have vision and hearing impairments. Regardless of the disability, navigating a school or hospital should not be one more challenge these individuals have to overcome.

Organizations including hospitals and schools should work with a sign professional to develop an efficient ADA sign system.

A clear and powerful message was sent to the American people in 1990 when Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which required thousands of public facilities all over the country to adhere to strict ADA signage regulations, among other things. ADA signage is defined in the ADA regulations as “displayed verbal, symbolic, tactile (Braille) and pictorial information.”

Even though nearly 20 years have passed since the law was enacted, many institutions continue to struggle to meet ADA signage criteria because they do not understand the requirements or regulations. To further complicate matters, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an advance notice concerning its updates to the ADA requirements in 2004, which means the rules and regulations are about to change.

Nevertheless, hospitals and schools servicing those with a disability should not be without ADA-compliant signs. These signs make sure that visitors, staff and students, regardless of their disability, can obtain the necessary information to easily navigate a facility.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest statistics, more than 43 million Americans are living with a disability. These individuals are your patients, staff members and students. To provide them with the best care and educational experience possible, hospital and school leadership would do well to ensure their facilities are compliant with ADA sign regulations.

Proposed ADA Sign Changes
On June 17, 2008 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued its latest notice concerning updates to the ADA standards. The first notice was issued in June 2004. The DOJ will issue a final notice and comment period before approving the new proposed guidelines, which include a signage component. This final notice will indicate when the new ADA standards are to be implemented. Until that date, which has not yet been determined, the original ADA standards remain in effect.

The proposed changes to signage will affect cosmetic requirements and placement height for interior architectural ADA signs. Throughout this article, those changes will be identified; however, the proposed changes will apply only to new construction.

The proposed changes to signage will affect cosmetic
requirements and placement height for interior architectural
ADA signs. However, the proposed changes will apply
only to new construction.

Sign Requirements
ADA sign requirements cover both the interior and exterior of a building. Facilities that have exterior entrances and are not wheelchair accessible need to display signs directing visitors to the closest accessible entrance. In addition, handicapped parking spaces must be identified with signage.

Every permanent interior space made available to the public must comply with ADA sign regulations. This includes but is not limited to classrooms, lobbies, restrooms, stairwells and stair entries, offices and elevators.

Character Proportion
Letters and numbers on ADA-compliant signs currently must have a width-to-height ratio of between 3:5 and 1:1 and a stroke-width-to- eight ratio between 1:5 and 1:10. The intent of this requirement is to ensure fonts are easy to read and not excessively thick or thin.

Under the proposed guidelines, character stroke width is limited to 15 percent of the character’s height, based on an upper-case “I’s” measurement. This change will make it easier for individuals to trace letter forms with a finger and make signs more legible for the tactile reader.

In addition, character spacing must allow at least 1/8 inch between the  characters in a word, measured at the reading surface. This minimum can be tricky with smaller letters because normal kerning would place many charter combinations much more closely together. The new guidelines include an exception for engraved letters, which allows spacing to be as close as 1/16 inch based on the letters.

Mounting Locations and Heights
Signage that identifies permanent rooms and spaces needs to be mounted on the wall adjacent to the latch side of the door. If there is no wall space adjacent to the latch side of the door, signs should be placed on the nearest adjacent wall. Mounting height, currently, should be 60 inches above the floor to the centerline of the sign.

On overhead, suspended and projecting signs, letters and numbers must be sized according to the viewing distance from which they are to be read. The minimum height is measured using an upper case X. Lower case characters are permitted on signs. Overhead, suspended or projected signs must be mounted no less than 84 inches from the floor and have copy no less than 3 inches in height.

However, in the proposed guidelines, the mounting height has been lowered to make the built environment more accessible to shorter people and those who use wheelchairs.

The proposed guidelines state tactile characters must be at least 48 inches but no more than 60 inches above the floor, measured from the baseline of the lowest tactile characters.

Braille and Pictorial Symbol Signs
Letters and numerals should be raised at least 1/32 inch, set in upper case, sans serif or simple serif type and accompanied with Grade 2 Braille. Raised characters should be at least 5/8 inch tall, but no taller than 2 inches. Pictograms, which are symbols indicating what is located in the space identified on the sign, must be accompanied by the equivalent verbal description placed directly below the pictogram. The border dimension of the pictogram should be 6 inches minimum in height.

Under the proposed guidelines, Braille must be positioned beneath the corresponding text, including multilined messages.

Another change as it relates to Braille is how information on signs is repeated. Traditionally, sign messages have been repeated in Braille using uppercase letters. The proposed changes only allow capitalization for the first word at the start of a sentence, proper nouns and names, and individual letters in initials and acronyms.

Finish and Contrast
On all ADA-compliant signs, the characters and symbols should contrast with their background. For example, letters could be light color on a dark background or vice versa. Sign experts recommend using an eggshell finish with an 11- to 19-degree gloss on a 60-degree glossimeter.

There was no change proposed to the Finish and Contrast section of the current ADA sign regulation.

Even though nearly 20 years have passed since the law was
enacted, many institutions continue to struggle to meet
ADA signage criteria because they do not understand the
requirements or regulations.

Getting and Staying Compliant
In an effort to save money and meet ADA compliance terms, some organizations have chosen to use a low cost sign provider that does not know the ins and outs of ADA sign requirements. What many organizations do not realize is that they may be sacrificing their compliance due to changing laws and confusing regulations that providers who do not specialize in ADA are not aware of.

Organizations including hospitals and schools should work with a sign professional to develop an efficient ADA sign system. There have been substantial developments in sign materials that allow a manufacturer to create an initial sign system that can later be easily and quickly reordered using online reordering technology.

Signage plays a significant role in everyday life—especially for those with disabilities. Can you imagine trying to navigate a hospital or school without it? So get started with a quality sign provider to bring your facility into ADA compliance today.

Paul Poblocki is vice president and general manager of Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Poblocki Sign Company. He can be reached at 414.453.4010 or by email at pbp@poblocki.com.

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