Where to mount a tactile sign: height, side and clear space

A tactile sign only helps if a person can find it and reach it. Section 703.4 of the 2010 ADA Standards sets where it goes, and these rules trip up more installations than any detail of the sign itself.

Height

Tactile characters must be at least 48 inches above the finish floor, measured to the baseline of the lowest tactile line, which is the braille below the text. They must be no more than 60 inches above the floor, measured to the baseline of the highest line of raised characters. A sign with a tall pictogram field still has to fit its tactile text in that band.

Visual-only signs are different. Their characters must be at least 40 inches above the floor, and the higher a sign is mounted, the larger its characters must be. For example, characters between 40 and 70 inches up that are read from under 6 feet away must be at least 5/8 inch tall, with 1/8 inch added for each foot of viewing distance beyond that.

Which side of the door

• Single door: on the wall beside the latch side of the door.
• Double doors with one active leaf: on the inactive leaf.
• Double doors with two active leaves: on the wall to the right of the right-hand door.
• No wall on the latch side: on the nearest adjacent wall.
• Push side of the door: only where the door has a closer and no hold-open device. A movable door stop doesn't count as a hold-open device, but a fixed hook or a magnetic holder does.

The guide notes that the Standards don't say where to put a sign at a doorway with no door. It recommends treating it like a double door with two active leaves and being consistent across the building. Where a glass wall makes the latch-side wall impossible, the sign goes on the glass.

Clear floor space

There must be a clear floor space of at least 18 by 18 inches centered on the tactile characters. It must be beyond the arc of any door swing between the closed position and 45 degrees open, so a person reading the sign isn't hit by a door. The space must be free of protruding objects up to 80 inches high.

Elevators and other exceptions

Elevator hoistway signs go on both jambs of each entrance, in the same 48 to 60 inch band. Car control labels may fall outside it, because the buttons themselves do. See the elevator sign builder for both.

Signs that stick out

Signs hung over a walkway must leave at least 80 inches of headroom (§307.4). A sign on posts with its leading edge between 27 and 80 inches above the ground can stick out at most 12 inches from the post (§307.3). These rules keep signs from becoming hazards for people who are blind or have low vision and use a cane.

Placement depends on your building's actual door hardware and walls, so check the drawings and the door with your installer, and confirm with your local building official before anything goes up.