It is estimated that Australia has over 575,000 people living with blindness or vision impairment. Such individuals require a form of signage that they can read using their fingers instead of relying on the help of other people. Braille is an effective method of translating letters, numbers, and symbols into dots that people with visual impairment can understand. Therefore, braille signage can help your business to accommodate clients with blindness as well as make your company comply with regulations and standards associated with accessible signs.

Here are the top facts to know about braille tactile signs. 

Why Braille Signage

Installing braille signage is a requirement in all states and territories in Australia. Being a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Australia is required to provide signage in braille in buildings and other public and open facilities. Therefore, when a company installs braille signage in their facility, they ensure confidence, safety, dignity, and independence of braille users. In a nutshell, braille signage ensures compliance with building code and Australian standard AS 1428.1-2009 regarding access and mobility.

Where to Install Braille Signage

Remember that braille signage should complement facility features that use print signs. In this regard, braille signs play three crucial functions in a building. First, they offer direction to a particular facility, such as an elevator or toilet. Second, braille signs are locational because they can be installed at the actual place where a facility is located, such as an emergency door and elevator. Lastly, braille signage is informative since it informs users of the availability of a service or facility. Therefore, braille signage should be installed in strategic locations in a building including but not limited to reception areas, entrances and exits, washrooms, elevators, building directories, and stair landing handrails for ease of identifying building floors.

Ensure Proper Design and Placement

Clients who use a facility can either be blind or have low vision. All these categories of persons should have access to relevant information conveyed in a facility. Therefore, communicating such information in braille, pictograms, large print, and embossed print can help those with visual impairment to navigate your building with ease. Consequently, the signage should be designed with different degrees of vision in mind. Also, the signage should visually contrast the background besides bearing short and straightforward information.

Check with your state regarding braille signage dimensional requirements. The signs should be placed at consistent locations and heights. Moreover, braille signage should be placed away from obstructions, but close to the destinations or objects they are indicating.