Tactile signs, also known as ADA signage, are specifically designed to assist those with visibility limitations. The signs are required to be posted according to very specific guidelines. Tactile signs are intended to be a physical representation of the information provided in print on the sign. The Braille rendering can help provide access and independence to people who might otherwise need to rely on someone else when it comes time to navigating the space.

If you’ve never needed to rely on one of them, you’ve probably never really considered them much. However, if you consider just how difficult it would be for the average person to navigate an unmarked unfamiliar location, you’ll realize just how helpful these can be for people who can’t read the placards. This way they don’t have to rely on other people, and can get where they need to go on their own.

Even the Braille portion of the sign has to be in accordance with very specific guidelines to be followed for the tactile signs. The placards have to be designed and posted according to strict guidelines, which must be followed or else there may be a penalty. The guidelines for the colors on the sign help govern the choices you have among contrasting colors.

ADA-compliant signs are specially designed wayfinding signage that is intended to help someone who is trying to make his way around the building independently. This would mean that you likely couldn’t use colors close together on the color wheel, because there wouldn’t be a significant difference between the font and the background. You can generally choose a dark color for the font with a light colored background, or the opposite, where the font is a light color and the background is a dark color.

The Braille guidelines regulate characteristics like the size and shape of the dots used to make the sign. There are also guidelines regarding the depth of the dots as the sign needs to be readable to those who can read Braille. If the dots weren’t tall enough the sign wouldn’t be useful to those it is intended to assist. Some guideline changes have even addressed the dots needing to be dome shaped.

There are even guidelines about how close together the Braille dots can be to each other. All of this is intended to make this specialized signage as helpful as they can be for the people they are meant to help. Because it’s difficult for those not afflicted to think about all the issues involved in these ADA signs, a lot of these issues might not be addressed if it wasn’t for these guidelines, and people with certain handicaps would have to be more dependent on other people than they would otherwise be.

Tactile signs are used all throughout public buildings. They are used to mark different things from elevators to stairways, to bathrooms and room numbers. They can label escalators and fire exits, as well as cafeterias and lobbies. The placards also help everyone navigate the building.

These signs don’t have to look out of place in your office or store, though, an established sign company knows the laws as well as all the room within them that will allow your ADA signs to blend in with your branded signage.

Author Bio: Signate is an established sign company that can help you brand your company with signage and tactile signs.

Category: Marketing
Keywords: tactile signs, sign displays, banners,trade show displays,metal signs, custom signs