Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Finish and Contrast

Characters and background must be eggshell, matte or other non-glare finish. There also must be adequate contrast between background and copy colors. View Takeform’s contrast calculator.

Typestyles and Character Height

Characters must utilize a sans serif typestyle. For permanent room signs, tactile characters must be upper case and a minimum of 5/8” and no more than 2” in height. Overhead and flag mounts have a character size of 3”. Upper and lower case are permissible. For directional signage, character height must be appropriate for the viewing distance. Again, upper and lower case characters may be utilized.

Tactile Characters and Braille

For permanent room signs, characters must be raised a minimum of 1/32” and accompanied with grade II Braille. Braille shall be domed in shape… flat, square cornered Braille shall be avoided. Raised copy and Braille are not required on overhead or directional signage.

Pictograms

Pictograms must have a background field of at least 6”. If text is utilized, it must be placed directly below the symbol and not within the field.

Sign Position

Room Identification – where a tactile sign is located at a room with a single door, the sign shall be on the latch side. Where a tactile sign is provided at double doors with one active leaf, the sign shall be on the inactive leaf. Where a tactile sign is provided at double doors with two active leafs, the sign shall be to the right of the right hand door.

Note: if a lack of wall space precludes any of the prescribed locations, the sign may be located at the nearest adjacent wall.

Mounting Height: