In March 2012, new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) guidelines went into effect. This new standard called the 2010 ADA STANDARDS FOR ACCESSIBLE DESIGN focuses on wayfinding signs for the visually impaired. The new standards offer significantly more guidance for making wayfinding signs that are user-friendly. Enhanced guidance in the area of non-glare finishes and recommendations of a 70% contrast between the background and lettering, as well as a formula for light reflective values, are included in the new standard.
In addition, changes that distinguish between sighted readers, Braille readers and raised letter readers ensure the needs of many types of ADA constituents are met, especially since only 10% of blind people read Braille, most notably, those who become blind in later life typically do not read Braille. In the past the needs of visual and tactile readers were lumped together in an unfortunate compromise. The new guideline now have requirements for character width (or stroke), including bolded upper and lower case characters for visual readers. The new guideline for tactile readers is for thin, beveled, widely spaced letters. In locations requiring both visual and tactile characters this will mean two separate signs or one sign with both visual and tactile characters, each meeting their own usability standard.
If your construction project or renovation has an ADA signage component please give us a call at 510-357-2000 or email us at info@signworks.us.com. We will ensure that you have ADA signage that complies with the new standard.