Is it ADA Compliant?
When you start a company, there are countless things to consider: your local competition, financing, advertising, employee benefits and satisfaction, balancing your work and personal life, and so much more. The last thing you want to worry about is ensuring that your business is up-to-code. Want to know how to avoid that doubt? Read on.
Here at Office Sign Company, we have 40 employees in over 10 different departments who are knowledgeable in every signage regulation your business needs in order to be a business. Signage is important, and that’s not just our marketing department telling you, “You need this.” Quite frankly, you do need this!
Does the term ADA compliant sound familiar? ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act which recognizes guidelines for a suitable, accessible environment for all individuals. As far as signage goes, allow us to walk you through the guidelines your business needs to remain up-to-date.
Signage Regulations – What makes a sign ADA compliant?
Depending on what state you’re located in, your business may have different regulations than others. Your local signage company can usually guide you through what brings your building up-to-code, but if you’d like reassurance, you can always plan a building inspection to keep your conscience clear!
Two factors come into play with ADA compliancy: the sign’s purpose, and if it is meant for a permanent space. This being said, the types of signs that need to be ADA compliant include restroom, exit, stair signs, and other signage of that nature. Once we get into which signs need to be ADA compliant, things can get a little complicated. Let’s break it down:
- Material – Glossy, reflective material and busy patterns are difficult to see. These finishes need to be considered while ordering signage. Not to fret, you have the option to request a proof before your order goes to production. This ensures that we’ve reviewed your signage to follow code, and you can see a comparison of what we recommend if we encounter a potential issue with your order.
- Color Contrast – You may think this is an obvious rule. However, our website offers a variety of options for text color, material color, finishing, and more .You may get too caught up picking your favorites that you put black text against a deep blue background. These are the things we notice and help you adjust. Signs must have at least 60-70% contrast between the substrate (material printed on) and the characters/pictograms, in order to be more legible for people with limited vision.
- Tactile Character Depth – I’m willing to bet you stopped reading after the word “tactile.” There’s so much to take into consideration! Again, don’t fret. Everything we offer, depending on the sign, already has these regulations built into the order to make it easier on you. We’re simply helping you appreciate the process and your local signage company! *Shameless plug* This rule simply means that the text needs to be raised. Not as intimidating as it seems, is it?
- Style – Remember in Junior High when schools started pushing the use of Word documents? Teachers wanted their students to hand papers in typed up rather than written out, and one of their strict rules was NO CURSIVE. Cursive text is tough to read. The same rule applies here. Characters on signage should be in all caps, and they cannot be italic, oblique, script, or highly decorative. Why? Readability, of course!
- Character Height – The complicated part of this rule is the width/height requirement of the characters. The width of an uppercase “O” must be 55% minimum and 110% max of the height of the uppercase “I.” This all depends on the viewing distance. Along with that, the thickness of each character must be 10% minimum and 30% maximum of the height of the character. Uff da – numbers. Don’t worry, we have you covered.
- Character Spacing and Line spacing – The minimum required spacing between each character is 3/8” apart. Technicalities aside, this spacing is extremely important for readability.
- Raised Borders/Decorative Elements – Feel free to get fancy with your signs! We wholeheartedly encourage that. As long as your sign is carrying out its purpose without obstructed clarity, you’re in the clear.
- Braille Beads – Braille beads are a requirement for ADA compliancy. And, like the character regulations listed above, they must be spaced apart appropriately and raised a specific height.
- Pictograms – Go ahead; throw a pictogram on that sign! We’ll ensure that it is 6” high with corresponding text below it. The pictograms and text must have a matte finish and contrast the sign substrate. Looking for standard pictograms? That will vary depending on your state! If you check with your state officials, you’ll easily find the symbol you’re looking for.
- Mounting – Last, but certainly not least, is mounting. The text is required by law to be between 48” and 60” (max) above the ground for ease of accessibility.
These details ensure that the visually and mobility-impaired individuals will find these wayfinding signs accessible, as part of ADA regulations. If you think about it, these are pretty obvious rules, right? In short, they help guarantee readability and ease of accessibility, which is the basis of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Repercussions
With any regulation, there are repercussions if they are not followed through accordingly. If a building fails inspection, that business could be fined up to $50,000 (on top of the cost) to update signage to be ADA compliant. However, the light in this situation is your friendly neighborhood Office Sign Company – here at your service to ensure you are up-to-code, up-to-par, and ready to rock. You are welcome!
What signs must be ADA compliant?
Brandon Henning (pictured above, left), Office Sign Company’s “ADA Connoisseur,” says it best. “A general rule of thumb is if a room or space has an entry door, it should have an ADA compliant sign to identify said room or space.” If you need a little more guidance, you can always reach out to city/local officials or building inspectors to see what building signs specifically should be ADA compliant.
How often does OSC accommodate this regulation?
Another signage guru here at the local sign shop, Laura Hinschberger, is thorough about making sure what you want is exactly what you get. Not to mention, up-to-code. “If we deem a sign requested by a customer to not be ADA compliant, we reach out to them to let them know before producing. At that point, if a customer chooses to proceed with a non ADA compliant sign, we have them sign a waiver that says they do not need the sign to be compliant.”
Most Popular ADA Compliant Sign
Remember when we said we’ll do the detailed work for you? We weren’t kidding! We offer signage right on our site that has all of these details squared away. All you need to do is pick your favorite. Our Curved Sign System line is by far our most popular sign produced. “These have a removable matte clear lens that can be created to include tactile text, graphics, and Braille. They are available in a large variety of sizes upon request, and if information changes in the future, the lens can be removed and we can produce a new lens at a fraction of the cost of a new sign,” according to the sign guru herself (also known as LoBot).
For those of you who made it to the end of this informative blog (book), we sincerely hope this helped you gain a better understanding of ADA compliancy, why it’s necessary, and what it requires. Along with that, we hope you’ve discovered a new-found appreciation for the individuals who carry out these regulations. Brandon and LoBot, that’s a shout-out to you! Thank you for providing the information and sharing your wealth of knowledge! And, thanks to our viewers for reading. Cheers, and happy signing!
Written by: Rylee Wznick
References: Brandon Henning and Laura Hinschberger in regards to
“Communication Elements and Features of the 2010 Standards of Accessible Design”
References: Brandon Henning and Laura Hinschberger in regards to
“Communication Elements and Features of the 2010 Standards of Accessible Design”
Contact: rylee@officesigncompany.com
