We recently finished installing close to 90 room identification and office room identifications signs for Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television. They are occupying a new building and needed to make sure that it was easy to navigate through the school while making sure that they were ADA compliant. You can see that all of the identification signs have raised text and Braille. This is just two of the requirements that ADA signs need to meet.
When we start an ADA project, we need to know all of the information about the building regarding exit routes, what different rooms will be used for, and so on. The contractor will usually provide us with the signs that they require and we can advise if anything will need to be changed to meet ADA compliance. Sometimes, a business will not have this information ready so we will visit the location in person to get all of the needed information.
Once we know what the client will need for their ADA signs and the design has been finalized, we start on the submittals. Submittals are much like proofs that we do for lobby signs or storefront signs. The submittals include shop drawings, material data, and product data for the architect and engineers to look over and verify that everything is correct for the project. This is also the time to make any changes to colors, patterns, or materials as we will start production as soon as the submittals are approved.
Some of the walls were black and some were white, so we painted the signs black or white accordingly and reversed the lettering to contrast with the backer. The panels themselves are aluminum plaques that are painted. There is a 1/8″ spacer behind each sign so the signs are a little spaced off of the wall. The suite numbers are 1/32″ thick per ADA guidelines, and the Braille is clear to match the backer panel. Some of the signs needed a business card holder attached to it. These were for the offices that needed space to put in information that could change in the future.