Why ADA Signs are Necessary in Nursing Homes
ADA compliant signs are necessary in all public facilities, but they are especially important in areas where there tends to be a large congregation of people with disabilities. One such location is a nursing home, where there are many elderly people living with disabilities relating to sight, mobility, hearing and more. ADA compliance in nursing homes is both a logistical and legal necessity. One major challenge people who are having have is reading signs from a distance. The ADA outlines specific standards for various elements of ADA signs to make them specifically readable for even visually impaired people.
Here are a few of the elements that are important in nursing homes:
- No glare. All ADA-compliant signs must have characters and backgrounds that do not create any glare. People who have vision problems do not process these reflections very well, especially elderly people. If you go through a nursing home or assisted living facility, you will almost certainly not find any signs with a glare.
- High contrast. People who have vision problems have a hard time discerning dark characters on somewhat dark backgrounds, or light characters on light backgrounds. There needs to be a high level of contrast between backgrounds and characters so the signs are easily read from afar and by people who have vision problems.
- Word standards. All fonts should be easy to read and put in sans serif or simple serif fonts with medium-weights strokes. Letters should be of an appropriate size based on the distance the reader is expected to be at when reading them.
- Sign placement. There are specific instructions as to how high signs should be mounted and how far away from doorways they should be placed.
Basically, the idea is to create and mount signs in a way that helps seniors maintain their independence as much as possible.
For more information about signs created specifically for nursing homes and assisted living facilities, contact the team at Erie Custom Signs today. We will be happy to speak with you more about all of the specifications we follow in creating signs for these facilities.
