The architect I'm working with asked that we apply braille and tactile lettering directly to the wall for ADA code signs. I called the access board and they said there's no ADA provision stating signs must be on a placard, so long as they're at the correct location. Would it be possible to install braille and tactile lettering directly to wall? assuming there are gotchas here... Walls are gypsum / level 5 finish. Thanks in advance.
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Possible to apply Braille and tactile lettering directly to the wall?
- Thread starter rgm
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- ada braille installation
thanks for the help. what's a tactile strip?
Johnny Best
Active Member
It is a clear adhesive strip with braille punched into it.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Why does the architect wanna do this ??
Thinking outside the box is one thing, but making it harder for blind people to find seems counterproductive.... just because an architect wants to achieve a certain visual for the people who CAN see. I believe the sign backer also helps the blind find the information easier/faster than just wiping their hands around the walls.
Thinking outside the box is one thing, but making it harder for blind people to find seems counterproductive.... just because an architect wants to achieve a certain visual for the people who CAN see. I believe the sign backer also helps the blind find the information easier/faster than just wiping their hands around the walls.
CanuckSigns
Active Member
Typical architect lol.
In theory you can place the tactile directly on the painted drywall, but the braille beads will fall out, they are meant to be drilled and installed into a hard base like acrylic which has enough strength to hold them in place by friction. Also how to they propose drilling hundreds or thousands of holes to within a fraction of a millimeter on site on a vertical surface?
In theory you can place the tactile directly on the painted drywall, but the braille beads will fall out, they are meant to be drilled and installed into a hard base like acrylic which has enough strength to hold them in place by friction. Also how to they propose drilling hundreds or thousands of holes to within a fraction of a millimeter on site on a vertical surface?
https://www.adasigndepot.com/products/braille-strip something like this is your only hope.
MikePro
New Member
in theory, you could use those big fat pinheads and physically jam "beads" into the wall with a paper pattern.
maybe predrill the pattern with a shallow countersink so only the top-half of the bead is protruding.
the lettering is then tape/pin mounted, and they'll never be able to paint the wall again without extreme difficulty ...so make sure you're firm on install after their final paint job has time to dry.
....still sounds like a poor spec, or poor communication of simple ADA panels mounted flush to the wall.
maybe predrill the pattern with a shallow countersink so only the top-half of the bead is protruding.
the lettering is then tape/pin mounted, and they'll never be able to paint the wall again without extreme difficulty ...so make sure you're firm on install after their final paint job has time to dry.
....still sounds like a poor spec, or poor communication of simple ADA panels mounted flush to the wall.
JBurton
Signtologist
Had an architect with a similar big brain idea, all the signs were matched to the interior paint and mounted with quicksnaps for a floating look, with characters cut out. Install was a pain, as each sign has 4 mounts that had to be drilled and anchored, otherwise the snaps would pull the backs portion off the wall.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Ya know one of the main rules is to have around an 80% or 90% contrast. That's not even close. Not everyone that's blind see black. Some can see slight shadows, and still read this braille, but again, that hairbrain idea defeats the purpose of helping the handicapped blind.
You can route away all of the media except for the braille... we used to do this to the gravoply that was 1-color and adhesive back. We would make braille stickers we could apply to the normal building signs. You must be careful to make sure the bumps (there must be a formal term...) match the spec in the ADA. I am getting ready to duplicate the setup using a laser instead of a roto-graver... should be ablet to leave the bump as basically a cylinder, then hit them with a slightly un-focussed beam to melt them into a dome....
JBurton
Signtologist
That's for copy > background, no wording about the contrast between sign and wall. (If you mean the void cut people, their reasoning was that pictograms are not required if the wording is used below.)
Proofread People
New Member
Our Gio agrees!