Which Braille Signs Does Your Building Really Need?

Not every sign in your building needs braille. Ordering braille signs for every wall wastes money, and ordering too few leaves you exposed, because an inspector or an accessibility complaint will flag every single permanent room in the building that's missing one. The 2010 ADA Standards draw a clear line between signs that identify a room and signs that point people somewhere, and once you see where that line falls, you can order the right signs the first time. Here it is, room by room.

Put Braille Signs on Every Permanent Room

Any sign that identifies a permanent room has to be tactile under Section 216.2 of the 2010 ADA Standards, which means raised characters and Grade 2 braille on the same plate beside the door. Permanent just means the room's function won't change. Offices, classrooms, conference rooms, storage rooms, electrical rooms and janitor's closets all qualify, and someone reading by touch relies on braille signs at each of those doors to confirm they've reached the right room before they open it. That only works with a predictable mounting spot. The standards put it on the latch side of the door, 48 to 60 inches from the floor to the baseline of the tactile characters, so a person can find every sign by feel in the same place. Mark every door on your floor plan whose label won't change.

Add Braille Signs to Every Restroom Door

Restrooms are permanent rooms too. The pictogram on a restroom sign doesn't need braille, but it needs a field at least 6 inches tall, and the text below it, such as WOMEN or ALL GENDER, needs raised letters with braille directly underneath. Installers often mount braille signs on the restroom door instead of the wall beside the latch, and a sign that swings away every time someone opens the door is hard for a person reading by touch to find. Existing buildings have one more rule: where some restrooms aren't accessible, Section 216.8 requires a sign at each of those doors pointing people to the nearest accessible restroom anywhere in the building. List every restroom before you order, staff and family rooms included.

Label Exit Doors and Stairwells With Tactile Signs

Section 216.4.1 requires tactile signs at doors leading to exit stairways, exit passageways and exit discharge, with wording such as EXIT or EXIT STAIR DOWN, and the same raised text and Grade 2 braille rules apply to them. People reach for these signs in smoke or darkness. The International Building Code adds a second requirement in Section 1023.9, which calls for a floor level sign in raised characters and braille at each landing inside an interior exit stairway, right next to the door into the corridor. Four stories with two stairwells means eight landing signs. Walk every stairwell floor by floor before your inspection, because a missing sign on the third floor landing fails the same way a missing sign at the exit door in the lobby does.

Skip Braille on Directional and Informational Signs

Section 216.3 covers signs that give directions or describe a space, and it only requires them to meet the visual rules in Section 703.5, with no raised characters and no braille anywhere on the sign. Touch readers can't find an arrow hanging over a corridor. Tactile rules only make sense beside a door. Directional accessibility signage still has to follow the visual rules, including a finish that doesn't glare, strong contrast between characters and background, and characters at least 3 inches tall when they sit more than 10 feet above the floor. Order hallway arrows and wayfinding panels as visual only, and put the money you save toward the permanent room signs on your list that actually need tactile plates and Grade 2 braille.

Leave Braille Off Temporary Signs and Directories

Section 216.1 exempts several sign types from the ADA sign requirements entirely: building directories, menus, seat and row designations in assembly areas, occupant names, building addresses, company names and logos, and temporary signs that stay up 7 days or less. These signs change often or name people and brands instead of rooms, so the standards don't treat them as fixed points that someone reading by touch would need to find at a door. Office nameplates trip people up. An employee's name needs no braille, but the room number on that same door does, so offices with changing occupants usually pair braille room signs with a separate name insert that staff can swap out without replacing the whole sign. Keep exempt signs on a separate list when you plan your order.

Buy Signs Built to the 2010 ADA Standards

A sign on the right door still fails with the wrong specs. Fingers can't reliably read shallow letters or decorative fonts, so the standards set exact dimensions for every tactile element on the sign, from the height of each raised letter to the grade of braille beneath it. ADA compliant signs use Grade 2 braille below the text, uppercase sans serif characters raised at least 1/32 inch, and character heights between 5/8 inch and 2 inches based on the uppercase letter I. At Braille Sign Pros, for example, we make our signs in the USA to those dimensions, and we've spent more than 20 years doing it for clients in construction, hospitality, healthcare and architecture. Ask every supplier for its braille grade and character heights in writing.

Ordering Braille Signs Online

For property managers or building owners looking to ensure that their facility has the proper signage that is ADA compliant and covers the accessibility essentials, we have everything you need. From restroom signs to room ID signs, stairwell signs and much more, we specialize in custom Braille signs across a multitude of use cases and industries. For critical rooms where these signs are mandated by law, we're your one stop shop to find exactly what you need. Take a look around or give us a call to get started.