Across Australia, thousands of people live with some form of visual impairment. Many will be blind or registered blind and will need to live with this significant impairment as they go about their everyday life. As you may know, the government does require individual organisations to design their place of work to take into account any visitors with this disability, and this is especially the case when it comes to signage. How do you need to approach this task when it comes to your operation, specifically?
Mandatory Versus Optional
Firstly, you need to determine what your legal obligations are and what you might consider to be optional. For example, you may have to provide signs that include braille at the entrance to specific rooms or areas, such as the toilet. You may not be required to provide such signs where the information displayed is purely advisory, but you should definitely check with the specific regulations in your area to be sure.
Broad Acceptance
Remember, all of your braille signs must be in the correct language, with raised text as well as braille. Some people with visual impairment may not be familiar with braille but will be able to recognise the message through the raised text. It is also important to group any instructions together when it comes to transcribing braille so that the individual can gather all the information as easily as possible when evaluating a more complex sign.
Customising Your Signs
You may decide to go further than the minimum stipulation and provide more information for your visually impaired visitors. In this case, you should work with a signage provider who has experience in this field and knows how to design and produce signs that will be practical and accessible. For example, you may want to include information about the opening hours of your business. In this case, you should include the appropriate braille transcription on any new signs that you place at the entrance. Once again, make sure that the text is also raised so that it is of most value to your visitors.
Getting It Right
Just bear in mind that there are several different levels of complexity in English braille, and you need to know which one to use. One of the versions has a number of contractions or abbreviations, and this makes it both easier to understand and easier to fit on the average sign.
For more information, reach out to a custom braille sign supplier near you.
Share7 May 2020
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