Architectural Graphics, Accessible Wayfinding
& ADA Sign Specialists
Design, Manufacturing & Expert Installations
Signs with both raised and visual characters and braille are the heart of what we call "ADA signs." They identify door and entryways, exits and floor levels. The raised and visual characters can be separate from each other, or one set of characters can serve both visual and tactile readers. The third way -- and probably the best way in terms of accessibility for the most people -- is to design a large, somewhat bold and easy to read visual sign with high contrast and a non-glare surface, and then to mount a second sign adjacent to the door with small, slender, easy to read raised characters accompanied by braille. The tactile characters can be "invisible," with no contrast to the wall on which they are placed. They can also be contained within a decorative format, such as a scenic photograph, the print of a colorful school mascot, or a shiny metal form.
Custom Door/Floor ID Signs
These examples of custom Room Identification signs include traditional signs where the same characters are both visual and tactile.
There are also signs with separate visual and tactile text. The last photo shows an overhead "companion" visual sign and the tiny legal tactile sign is adjacent to the latch side of the door, essentially invisible because contrast is not required.