8.2 Accessible Signage: Visual Characters, Raised Characters, Braille, Pictograms, and Symbols
Key Takeaways
IBC 1112.1 requires the International Symbol of Accessibility at accessible parking, loading zones, toilet rooms, entrances, check-out aisles and dressing rooms only where not all such elements are accessible, plus areas of refuge and assisted rescue areas.
Signs identifying permanent rooms and spaces need visual characters and raised characters with Grade 2 braille; directional and informational signs need visual characters only.
Raised characters are uppercase, sans serif, raised 1/32 inch, 5/8 to 2 inches high, with baselines between 48 and 60 inches above the floor; braille is below the text and also 48 to 60 inches high.
Tactile signs at doors go on the latch side, with an 18 x 18-inch clear floor area beyond the door swing between closed and 45 degrees open.
Visual characters are at least 40 inches above the floor with a minimum height set by Table 703.2.4 (5/8 inch under 6 feet of viewing distance at 40 to 70 inches high), on a nonglare finish of 19 gloss units maximum.
8.2 Accessible Signage: Visual Characters, Raised Characters, Braille, Pictograms, and Symbols
Signage is the "Signs" half of the 4% Alarms and Signs subtopic. Read every sign question twice: first decide which kind of sign is required (IBC 1112), then apply the technical criteria for that kind (A117.1 703).
Scoping (IBC 1112)
International Symbol of Accessibility (1112.1)
Required accessible elements are identified by the ISA at:
- Accessible parking spaces required by 1106.2 (not required where total parking is four or fewer spaces);
- Accessible parking spaces required by 1106.3 (not required where spaces are assigned to specific units in I-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4);
- Accessible passenger loading zones;
- Accessible toilet or bathing rooms where not all are accessible;
- Accessible entrances where not all are accessible;
- Accessible check-out aisles where not all are accessible (above the aisle, where the aisle number or type identification is);
- Accessible dressing, fitting and locker rooms where not all are accessible;
- Areas of refuge (1009.9);
- Exterior areas for assisted rescue (1009.9);
- Accessible lockers in recreational facilities.
Toilet Room Signs (1112.2)
Signs required by the International Plumbing Code to identify toilet and bathing rooms are visual characters, raised characters and braille complying with A117.1. Where pictograms designate toilet rooms, they have visual, raised character and braille text descriptors.
Directional Signs (1112.3)
Directional signs with the ISA and A117.1 visual characters, pointing to the nearest like accessible element, are required at: inaccessible building entrances; inaccessible public toilets and bathing facilities; elevators not serving an accessible route; each separate-sex toilet room (pointing to the family or assisted-use room); exits not providing an accessible means of egress (per 1009.10); and drinking fountains for wheelchair users and standing persons that are not adjacent.
Other Signs (1112.4 and 1112.5)
Assistive listening availability (ISA for hearing loss), tactile EXIT signs at area of refuge doors (1013.4), area of refuge and assisted rescue instructions (1009.11), two-way communication directions (1009.8.2), floor-level signs in exit stairways, amusement ride queue signs, and variable message signs in transportation facilities and emergency shelters.
Which Technical Criteria Apply (A117.1 703.1)
| Sign type | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Designations of permanent rooms and spaces (interior and exterior) | Visual characters (703.2) and raised characters with braille (703.3, 703.4); exterior signs not at the door they serve need not be tactile |
| Directional and informational signs | Visual characters (703.2) only |
| Pictograms designating permanent interior rooms | 703.5 with a text descriptor directly below the pictogram field (no descriptor needed for "No Smoking," logos or the ISA) |
Visual and raised characters may be on one sign or on two separate signs with the same information.
Visual Characters (703.2)
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Case and style | Upper, lower or mixed case; conventional form, not italic, oblique, script or highly decorative |
| Height (Table 703.2.4) | Based on the uppercase "I" and the mounting height and viewing distance; for a baseline 40 to 70 in. high viewed from less than 6 ft: 5/8 in. minimum; over 70 to 120 in. viewed from less than 15 ft: 2 in.; over 120 in. viewed from less than 21 ft: 3 in.; add 1/8 in. per foot beyond those distances |
| Width | Uppercase "O" 55 to 110 percent of the "I" height |
| Stroke width | 10 to 30 percent of the "I" height |
| Character spacing | 10 to 35 percent of character height |
| Line spacing | 135 to 170 percent of character height |
| Height above floor | 40 in. minimum to the baseline |
| Finish and contrast | Nonglare (19 gloss units maximum at 60 degrees); light-on-dark or dark-on-light |
Raised Characters (703.3)
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Duplication | Always duplicated in braille |
| Depth | 1/32 in. minimum raised |
| Case and style | Uppercase, sans serif |
| Height | Uppercase "I" 5/8 in. to 2 in. (1/2 in. minimum where separate visual characters are provided) |
| Stroke width | 15% of "I" height maximum at the top, 30% at the base; 10% minimum where characters are both visual and raised |
| Spacing | 1/8 in. minimum at the top, 1/16 in. at the base, four times the stroke width maximum; 3/8 in. from raised borders |
| Line spacing | 135 to 170 percent |
| Mounting height | 48 in. minimum to the baseline of the lowest raised character and 60 in. maximum to the baseline of the highest |
Location at Doors (703.3.11)
- Single door: alongside the door on the latch side.
- Double doors with one active leaf: on the inactive leaf.
- Double doors with two active leaves: to the right of the right-hand door.
- No wall space: the nearest adjacent wall.
- An 18 x 18 in. minimum clear floor area centered on the raised characters, beyond the arc of any door swing between the closed position and 45 degrees open.
- Exception: on the push side of doors with closers and without hold-open devices.
Braille (703.4)
Contracted (Grade 2) braille, domed or rounded dots; capital indicators only before the first word of sentences, proper nouns, individual letters, initials and acronyms; placed below the corresponding text, separated 3/8 in. from raised characters and borders; mounted 48 to 60 in. to the baseline of the braille cells. Elevator car controls are exempt from the mounting heights.
Pictograms and Symbols (703.5 and 703.6)
- Pictogram field 6 in. minimum high; no characters or braille in the field; nonglare, contrasting.
- Symbols: International Symbol of Accessibility (703.6.3.1), International Symbol of TTY (703.6.3.2), International Symbol of Access for Hearing Loss for assistive listening (703.6.3.3), and a handset with radiating sound waves for volume-controlled telephones (703.6.3.4).
Variable Message Signs (703.7)
VMS characters are uppercase, conventional and nonglare, with heights set by viewing distance and pixel-count rules for high-resolution (16 rows or more) and low-resolution (7 to 15 rows) characters.
A tactile room identification sign is installed beside a single door. Under ICC A117.1 Section 703.3.10, how is its mounting height measured?
48 inches minimum to the lowest baseline, 60 inches maximum to the highest
60 inches to the centerline of the sign
40 inches minimum to the bottom of the sign
54 inches maximum to the baseline of the highest raised character on the sign
A building has two public entrances and both are accessible. What does IBC 1112.1 require for identifying them?
An International Symbol of Accessibility sign at each entrance
Tactile signs with braille at each entrance
None, because every entrance is accessible
Directional signs at each entrance
At a pair of double doors with two active leaves, where must a tactile room identification sign be located under ICC A117.1 Section 703.3.11?
On the inactive leaf
Centered above the doors
On the left side of the left-hand door
To the right of the right-hand door
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