Accessible Signage and Spaces

Useful Signage Tips

Tactile print: Accessible signs should include embossed high contrast print letters as well as braille so more people can read your signs by touch. Please don’t use engraved print – it’s really hard to read by touch.

Clear and Concise:  Accessible signs should use easy to read fonts, good contrast between letter colour and it’s background, and letters big enough to be read from the appropriate distance. The letters should not all be capitalised.

Durability: Make your accessible signs out of durable matt materials like plastic, aluminium and stainless steel. Signs made from braille label stickers and laminated cardboard don’t last the distance.

Placement: Signs should be at 1200 mm to 1600 mm from the floor to the bottom of the sign.

Signage in lifts: Your lifts should have accessible signage for all buttons in and outside of the lift as well as floor indicators.  The signage should be to the left of the buttons – it’s often too hard to read when it sits directly on them. We recommend braille signage even in talking lifts so deafblind people can also have access to the information. Talking lifts are important too – if other passengers are stopping at floors, the person who’s blind or has low vision needs to hear when the lift stops on their floor.

Sourcing signage: Several local companies produce accessible signage. We have found the cost of producing accessible signage locally cheaper than it used to be. You can import signage but it tends to be more expensive, can have different braille codes and sizes, and might not comply with Blind Low Vision NZ guidelines. If you do import braille signs, you should know that braille signage from the USA does not comply. Australian and UK signs may be safer choices.

Braille signage production: although Blind Low Vision NZ doesn’t produce signage, we can supply an image of the correctly-sized braille as a PDF.

For a quote, call 0800 24 33 33 or email signage@blindlowvision.org.nz

We are also happy to look at samples to help you get your signs right.

Taxi signage: As of 2017, the New Zealand Transport Agency no longer requires taxis to display braille signage. However, following advocacy and consultation with Blind Low Vision NZ, The Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand (Blind Citizens NZ,) and the Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust (BANZAT), individual taxi organisations have agreed to continue to maintain or install braille signage in their taxis. This is highly recommended as it aligns with Outcome 5 of the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026, and increases the safety, independence, confidence and dignity of braille readers who use taxis.