Room number signs with braille: how high, where and what they carry

How high a room number sign goes: 48 to 60 inches

The height is measured to the baseline of the characters, not to the edge of the sign: at least 48 inches (1220 mm) above the finish floor to the baseline of the lowest tactile character, and no more than 60 inches (1525 mm) to the baseline of the highest (2010 ADA Standards, 703.4.1). Braille counts as tactile. The U.S. Access Board’s drawing puts the 48-inch minimum at the baseline of the braille and the 60-inch maximum at the baseline of the top line of text (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Installation Height and Location, image notes). The range is kept narrow so that the sign is easy to find and read by touch (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Visual and Tactile Requirements on Single Sign).

• A number and a room name on one sign: when the text runs to several lines, the braille goes below the entire text (2010 ADA Standards, 703.3.2); with separate blocks of text, below each logical block (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions). All of the tactile characters, braille included, stay within the 48 to 60 inch range (2010 ADA Standards, 703.4.1).
• Print on a separate sign: when the visual characters are on a sign of their own, apart from the tactile one, they go at least 40 inches (1015 mm) above the floor (2010 ADA Standards, 703.1 and 703.5.6).
• Directional signs, such as an arrow toward rooms 400 to 420, follow the rules for print only (2010 ADA Standards, 216.3) and go at least 40 inches above the floor; extra copies on the floor are allowed on top of the compliant one (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions).

Which room signs need braille: 216.2 and its exceptions

Interior and exterior signs that identify permanent rooms and spaces comply with 703.1, 703.2 and 703.5: raised characters duplicated in braille, and visual characters (2010 ADA Standards, 216.2 and 703.2). The advisory explains the word permanent: the rule applies to designations, labels or names of rooms where the sign is not likely to change over time, such as room and floor numbers or letters and room names (2010 ADA Standards, advisory 216.2). The Access Board adds that these designations are unlikely to change without a significant alteration (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions).

• Covered: room numbers, suite and dwelling unit numbers, floor numbers or letters, and room names, such as the labels of conference rooms, libraries, cafeterias, locker rooms, mechanical rooms and restrooms (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Designations of Permanent Rooms and Spaces; Common Questions). Signs in areas not used by the public are generally covered as well (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions).
• Not covered: building directories, menus, seat and row designations in assembly areas, occupant names, building addresses, and company names and logos; temporary signs, used for 7 days or less; and, in detention and correctional facilities, signs outside public use areas (2010 ADA Standards, 216.1, exceptions 1, 3 and 4). In parking facilities, 216.2 does not apply (2010 ADA Standards, 216.1, exception 2).
• Outside, away from the door: an exterior sign that is not located at the door of the space it serves needs no raised characters or braille, only print that meets the visual rules (2010 ADA Standards, 216.2, exception; U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Designations of Permanent Rooms and Spaces).
• A second number for staff: secondary room numbers for maintenance or custodial staff, added to the general room number, need not be tactile but meet the rules for print; the tactile rules apply to the name or number that is the main or only designation of the room (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions).
• Directions and information, such as an arrow to a room, instructions, rules of conduct or hours of operation, follow the rules for print and need no braille (2010 ADA Standards, 216.3; U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Directional and Informational Signs).

A sign that repeats a compliant one, an extra copy, does not have to meet the Standards (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions).

Hotel room numbers and apartment doors

Section 216 of the 2010 Standards, which lists the signs a building needs, has no rule of its own for hotel guest rooms (2010 ADA Standards, 216). A guest room number is a room number like any other: the Access Board names motel rooms as an example of exterior signs labeling permanent rooms, and says that signs identifying suite, room or dwelling unit numbers have to comply (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Common Questions). In practice:

• The number at the guest room door, in an interior corridor or on an outdoor walkway, has raised characters, Grade 2 braille and print, beside the door on the latch side, 48 to 60 inches above the floor (2010 ADA Standards, 216.2, 703.2 to 703.4).
• A number on the outside of a building that is not at the door of the room it serves needs print only (2010 ADA Standards, 216.2, exception).
• Arrows to groups of rooms in a corridor are directional signs: print only (2010 ADA Standards, 216.3).
• The wheelchair symbol is not required on guest room signs. The Access Board lists where it is: entrances, toilet and bathing rooms, parking spaces, check-out aisles and existing elevators, unless all are accessible, and directional signs to accessible entrances and toilet and bathing rooms; guest rooms are not on the list (U.S. Access Board guide to signs, Summary).

How many accessible rooms a hotel needs, and what goes inside them, is in ADA hotel room requirements; what to ask before booking is in wheelchair accessible hotels.

Which room sign goes where

Room signs and Braillito Maps

Braillito Maps does not record room numbers one by one. It is a community map that answers ten questions about each place: step-free entrance or ramp, wide doorway, accessible restroom, accessible parking, tactile paving, braille signage, braille menu, audible signals, guide dogs welcome and a quiet environment.

One of them is about the signs: whether a blind visitor can read the room numbers and room names of a place by touch.

Each question is answered yes or no, or stays without data until someone knows. The score of a place is the number of yes answers out of ten, and its color always appears next to the number, never on its own. If what a place says is wrong, it can be reported. Meet Braillito Maps.

More accessibility guides

• Braille signage: which signs need braille under the ADA, how high they go, on which side of the door, and the size of the dots.
• ADA restroom signs: how high a restroom sign goes, on which side of the door, what it carries in raised letters, braille and pictograms, and when it needs the wheelchair symbol.
• ADA exit signs: which exit doors need a tactile sign with braille, why the lit EXIT sign does not, how high it goes and on which side of the door.
• ADA hotel rooms: how many accessible rooms and roll-in showers a hotel needs, rooms for deaf and hard of hearing guests, and what each room has inside.
• Accessibility symbols: what the wheelchair symbol means, where it is required and the other access symbols.
• ADA door width: 32 inches of clear width, maneuvering space, thresholds, hardware and opening force.
• ADA elevator requirements: car dimensions, door width and timing, call button height, audible and visible signals, and braille on the jambs and buttons.
• 2010 ADA Standards: what each of the ten chapters covers, since when the Standards apply and to which buildings, with the guide for each element.
• ADA compliance: a checklist for small businesses, with the 2010 Standards section behind each item.
• All accessibility guides