Typography, Placemaking and Signs A Four-Part SFI White Paper Series Written By Craig Berger Part III Typography 45 Center 18” Minimum Line .125” .125” .125” and the Code Corresponding “O” Width – ADA and Egress Codes Minimum: At least 55% 55% of “I” height but no more than 110% of the “I” height Four part white paper & webinar series profiling typography and dimensional typography in the sign making industry. Wrtitten by Craig Berger © Signage Foundation, Inc. Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes 1 Other Resources: Four-Part Typography Typography Webinar White Paper Series. Series. Download the other parts to this Visit the page below to view a calendar Typography White Paper Series. of the webinars we currently offer. www.signs.org/EducationEvents/ www.signs.org/WhitePapers ISASignAcademy.aspx 2 Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes © Signage Foundation, Inc. Sponsored by: The Signage Foundation is a not-for-profit Nova Polymers is the global leader in the committed to expanding the knowledge development of materials and processing base on the use and benefits of signage equipment for the fabrication of Accessible products through peer-reviewed research and ADA compliant signage. With a to facilitate the operation within the focus on education and the continued marketplace by manufacturers, suppliers development of innovative materials that and individuals in their efforts to design, meet international accessibility guidelines, build and sell innovative products. For Nova continues to lead the sign industry and more information, visit help people with visual disabilities navigate thesignagefoundation.org the built environment. novapolymers.com Architectural signage solutions for ADA Swell Media Group is a branding and and Wayfinding signage helping people marketing solutions provider focused on navigate their environment. Dixie lead generation and content creation. Graphics is a solution source for designers We build brands, websites and engaging and fabricators, offering material and sign marketing campaigns by working closely choice. We also offer project completions with you to understand your business and from project management to installation your clients. accessorizing. Our goal is to streamline the swellmediagroup.com manufacturing process for you. dixiegraphics.com © 2014 All Contents Copyright Signage Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © Signage Foundation, Inc. Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes 3 odes and guidelines govern a very Highway Administration must be integrated into large part of what is designed state laws or face withdrawal of federal money and implemented in the built and a lawsuit. C environment. From federal guidelines that mandate accessibility and design standards to ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATIONS: States local ordinances that govern the look and feel of and localities are responsible for developing and our cities and towns, these rules are often unseen enforcing codes in their jurisdictions; they play a but play a signifi cant role in how buildings and signifi cant role in interpreting these codes with public spaces perform. In addition to planning and federal guidance. Sometimes federal agencies architecture, codes apply to graphic information also have an enforcement role, particularly including symbols and type. Designers and involving government buildings. fabricators who understand the intricacies and overlapping governance behind codes are usually ORIENTATION: When you learn how the the most eff ective at completing projects and message and sign fi ts into a system of similar achieving the most eff ective solutions. messages and signs. While design codes may seem purely Standards, Mandates localized, there is a range of research, precedent, best practices and advocacy and Enforcement that serve as a foundation. This knowledge comes in handy when interpreting the There often is a great deal of confusion about intent of local codes. When looking at state where design codes originate and which ones to disability codes or local fire codes, knowledge follow. Instead of springing from local ordinances, of how they were developed by different codes usually come from three sources: organizations also can provide guidance in interpretation or resolving conflicts. STANDARDS BODIES: These groups, like the International Standards Organization (ISO) or the National Fire Protection Association The Americans with (NFPA) develop guidelines and standards based on research, best practices, and guidance from Disabilities Act professional–and some not so professional– experts and special interest groups. Before 1991, states developed their own versions of the Americans with Disabilities Act based on FEDERAL MANDATES: The United States guidelines established by the American National has a system where states have the power to Standards Institute (ANSI) in conjunction with develop and enforce their own laws, based on the International Code Council (ICC). When the federal guidance. Many of these mandates federal government came along with their own from organizations like the Justice Department, Justice Department Guidelines, it based much of Environmental Protection Agency or Federal it on the guidelines already developed, without 4 Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes © Signage Foundation, Inc. ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) Harmonization of the national and international guidelines with the ADA administered by the Justice Department has made interpretation and enforcement much easier, but has made change much slower. “Why can’t someone just tell me what laws to follow so I can just focus on my work?” – A Texas designer © Signage Foundation, Inc. Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes 5 a review of their eff ectiveness. In the 20 years flourishes as opposed to Ye Olde English, but since the ADA was passed, these groups worked a lack of specificity of the language resulted to update the code based on a combination of in the rule being nearly unenforceable. Over advanced knowledge and ease of interpretation. the course of a decade, the ANSI committee States updated their codes multiple times based refined the guidelines to only include san serif on these guidelines before the federal government for tactile copy and eventually only a specific was able to update its national code in 2011. This, range of stroke widths, proportions and heights of course, produced mass confusion with diff erent could be used. states and even localities having diff erent standards and enforcement approaches. Today the national code is “Harmonized” with “Domed. I can’t believe the International Building Code (IBC), but lingering confusion still exists. Eff ective accessibility that one word can shut designers are required to manage not only the moving target of the codes, but also their intent down my project.” and interpretation. While most states must adhere – A California designer to the national ADA, some places still maintain their own specifi c code language (California being Dual Signs: The ADA was originally developed the most well known); there is still no international as a one-size-fi ts-all code, with the needs of the consensus on disability codes. blind and the visually impaired being covered by the same code. Since these two groups had such widely divergent needs, guidelines were How Typography Codes developed to address both groups. Tactile letters would have restrictive code with very narrow in the New ADA Were standards for type selection, height, location and spacing. The visually impaired would have a Developed and Enforced wide range of serif and san serif typography to choose from as well as fl exible location, height The new ADA was the result of a number of and spacing. different organizations hashing out issues that were seen as inefficient or confusing in the first This greater fl exibility has been a good thing. code. The leading controversial areas were: However many designers and code offi cials balk at the idea of “dual” signs that duplicate San Serif Versus Simple Serif: The early information to meet these standards. Most ADA had a number of issues with unclear buildings today still follow the restrictive language that made for difficult enforcement. standards for the blind on all signs even The most damaging was language calling for though the new language has made it easier to san serif or “simple” serif type. The word diff erentiate between wayfi nding, directory and “simple” was meant to mean type with few identifi cation signs. 6 Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes © Signage Foundation, Inc. 01. Clearview 02. Futura ROADWAY 03. Highway Gothic 04. Highway Sans SIGNS 05. NPS Rawlinson 06. Transport ADA TRANSPORTATION 07. Frutiger SIGNAGE 08. Helvetica 09. Frutiger 55 Roman 10. Helvetica Regular 11. Lucida Sans Unicode Helvetica Futura 12. Myriad Pro-Regular Bodoni Minion Myriad Garamond DIGITAL SIGNS Frutiger Trajan Arial • Geneva Helvetica • Verdana COMMERCIAL SIGNS There are only a small number of typefaces that can be used on tactile signs based on tight restrictions in character proportions, width and stroke width. These include early san serif type like Franklin Gothic and modern type like Helvetica. While not specifi cally stated in the code, humanist type that varies stroke thickness like Optima is discouraged and the tight restrictions make almost impossible to use. © Signage Foundation, Inc. Typography and the Code – ADA and Egress Codes 7 Rounded or Domed/Edged or Curved: The simple serif controversy has shown how one Safety and Security small change in language can produce enormous The ADA is perhaps the best-known code unintended eff ects. Another issue which is still standard for signs, but there are in fact a lingering with us today are standards that allows variety of guidelines and code standards Braille to be subtly “rounded” at the top and governing safety information in the raised letters to be “edged” or sanded at the environment. From fire codes to specialized corners. While both of these standards have a sign safety codes developed for building with worthwhile goal of making tactile signs easier for specific hazards, they are becoming much more blind people to use, they have produced confusion refined and sophisticated.