Engraving ADA Signs

About This Document

This document sets guidelines for accessibility to places of public accommodations and commercial facilities by individuals with disabilities.  These guidelines are to be applied during the design, construction, and alteration of such buildings and facilities to the extent required by regulations issued by Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.   (Reproduced from the Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Justice #28 CFR Part 36)To obtain a copy of this document, call Washington, DC. @ (202)-514-0301 or (202) 514-0381.

Sinage

Sinage required to comply with the Americans with disabilities Act shall comply with applicable provisions of section 4.30 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Character Proportion

Letters and numbers on signs shall have a width-to-height ratio between 3:5 and 1:1 and a stroke-width-to-height ratio between 1:5 and 1:10.   This means that a character 1 inch high shall be between .600  and 1"  wide, and have a brush stroke of between .100" and .200" wide.

Raised and Brailled characters and Pictorial Symbol Signs

Letters and numbers shall be raised above the surface 1/32" upper case, sans serif or simple serif type and shall be accompanied with grade 2 Braille.  raised characters shall be at least 5/8" high, but no larger than 2 in. high.  Pictograms shall be accompanied by the equivalent verbal description placed directly below the pictogram.  The border dimension of the pictogram shall be 6 inch minimum in height.   This means that the pictogram must be in an area that is 6 inch high with nothing else in it.

The characters and background of signs shall be eggshell matte, or other non-glare finish.  characters and symbols shall contrast with their background, either light characters on a dark background or dark characters on a light background.   There should be at least a 70% color contrast differential between the raised letters and the background.  The greatest readability is usually achieved through the use of light characters on a dark background.

• Black background with white letters = 93.9% contrast

• Red background with black letters = 61.8% contrast

• Green background with blue letters = 55.1% contrast

Constructing an ADA Sign

1. The first thing to decide when constructing an ADA sign is the size of the sign.  You want the text and or pictogram to fit comfortably on the sign without condensing any of the text.  Although it is not mentioned in the guide lines for ADA signs, condensing text does make it more difficult for visually impaired persons to read.  Also, condensing text changes the brush stroke of the characters to the point that it may not comply with section 4.30.2.

2. The next step is to select the color of the substrate material and the color of the applique material for the raised letters and or pictograms.  Be sure to pick colors that have at least a 70% color contrast differential.

3. The next thing to do is to engrave the Braille portion of the sign.  There are two methods of placing Braille onto an engraved sign.  The first is to engrave a window in the material and around the Braille dots.  This leaves the dots raised in a recessed window.  The cutter used for this is a .030" Braille cutter.  The second is to drill holes in the material for insertion of acrylic balls, called rasters, into the holes as the last operation of making the sign.  The hole is drilled .043" deep using a 1.55mm drill.  This is know as the Edgerton method of Braille.

4. The next step is to cut the applique to fit over the area of the raised letters and or pictogram.  If this applique has adhesive, peel off the protective backing and apply to the substrate to cover the area of the raised text.  It is best to purchase the applique with adhesive on it.  The adhesive is applied with laminating rollers at the factory to insure that there are no air traps.  If the applique or 1/32 material does not have adhesive on it, you must apply adhesive to it being careful not to have any air traps under the adhesive.  When doing this, the material should set for 24 hours before applying it to the substrate.

5. We are now ready to cut out the raised portion of the sign.  When doing this, I have found that a 1/4 round cutter with a 22.5° angle and a .015" tip works the best.  Set your cutter depth so to cut through the applique and the adhesive.  If you adjust your cutter accurately, you can cut the applique and not cut the substrate.  The average depth to set your cutter is .034".  It is best to measure the material, and set your cutter accordingly.

6. Now we are ready to weed away the excess applique.  the first thing to do is to brush away all the chips from around the cutout letters.  I use a paint brush for this.  The next thing to do is pop out the centers of the letters like the O's, P's, and other letters with centers.  I have found two tools that work very well to accomplish this.  One is a Stanley knife, and the other is a dentist pick.  Very carefully pry out the centers without scratching the substrate.  Next peal off the remaining applique.

7. If you used the Edgerton method of creating the Braille text, the next thing to do is insert the rasters.  This is done using a vacuum pickup and insertion tool supplied by Accent Signage.

Accent Signage holds a patent on this process of creating Braille text on signs.  To obtain a license to use this method, contact Accent Signage @ 515-244-5988.