ADA Standards & Information

Revised Regulations​

On September 15, 2010, the Department of Justice published revised and final ADA regulations. Enforcement of these new standards begins on March 15, 2012, for all new construction and alterations.
Revised Regulations​

In anticipation of the 2012 enforcement of the revised ADA regulations, Best Signs has been making incremental changes to our production and design standards throughout 2011. Some of these changes are detailed below, along with Best Signs interpretation of how the new regulations will influence your signage.

  • 703.2.3 Style. Sans Serif typestyles only. Simple serif typestyles (ie. Century Schoolbook, Times New Roman, etc.) no longer comply.
  • 703.2.6 Stroke Thickness. Under the new guidelines for stroke thickness, the Helvetica Medium typestyle no longer complies.
  • 703.2.7 Character Spacing. There must be a minimum of 1/8" of space between adjoining characters. We have adjusted the settings in our graphic software to allow for 1/8" space between the "TT" letter combination. The spacing between other letter combinations will vary, depending on the typestyle used, but will not be less than 1/8".
  • 703.3.1 Dimensions and Capitalization. In order to comply with the new regulation for domed or rounded Braille, our Graphic Blast production process requires that the braille be painted the same color as the sign background. Also, indication of all caps copy in the Braille translation does not comply. Best Signs will continue our standard of not indicating capitalization in Braille.

Changes & Interpretation

In anticipation of the 2012 enforcement of the revised ADA regulations, Best Signs has been making incremental changes to our production and design standards throughout 2011. Some of these changes are detailed below, along with Best Signs’ interpretation of how the new regulations will influence your signage.
  • 703.2.3 Style. Sans Serif typestyles only. Simple serif typestyles (ie. Century Schoolbook, Times New Roman, etc.) no longer comply.
  • 703.2.6 Stroke Thickness. Under the new guidelines for stroke thickness, the Helvetica Medium typestyle no longer complies.
  • 703.2.7 Character Spacing. There must be a minimum of 1/8" of space between adjoining characters. We have adjusted the settings in our graphic software to allow for 1/8" space between the "TT" letter combination. The spacing between other letter combinations will vary, depending on the typestyle used, but will not be less than 1/8".
  • 703.3.1 Dimensions and Capitalization. In order to comply with the new regulation for domed or rounded Braille, our Graphic Blast production process requires that the braille be painted the same color as the sign background. Also, indication of all caps copy in the Braille translation does not comply. Best Signs will continue our standard of not indicating capitalization in Braille.

ADA Compliant Typestyles

Where no typestyle is specified Best Signs’ default font will be SansSerif.

Typestyles are limited. We have determined that the following fonts in our system are ADA compliant:

ADA Compliant Typestyles

Where no typestyle is specified Best Signs’ default font will be SansSerif.
Typestyles are limited. We have determined that the following fonts in our system are ADA compliant:

Whitepaper

The above information is also available in a printable, whitepaper format.
Download our whitepaper (pdf) here.

Information & Resources