Easy-to-follow, accessible wayfinding design is key to giving all customers, visitors and patients an effective way to navigate your site. In this guide, we explore why inclusive wayfinding is important, key aspects and tips for making your signage accessible.

The Purpose of Wayfinding Signage

At its most basic, wayfinding signage is a navigational tool to help people get from one place to another as efficiently as possible. This goal is typically achieved with a map display or list that clearly conveys the location of areas of interest, such as different shops or departments. Modern accessible design takes a human-centred approach that benefits everyone.

For people with visual impairments, navigating both physical and digital signage can be a challenge. Certain fonts or colours may be less readable for those with reduced vision, while flat screens or signs are unusable for blind people. Height is also a key consideration for wayfinding signage, ensuring it can be read by as many people as possible.

Key Aspects of Accessible Wayfinding Design

Visual Accessibility

Visual accessibility is essential to providing partially sighted and blind people with the same positive experience of your business. Visual impairments range from red-green colour blindness to difficulty distinguishing letterforms. Implementing design that accommodates these differences is integral to successful navigation.

Multi Sensory

Tactile, multi-sensory signage is one of the easiest ways to improve the accessibility of your wayfinding. Embossed letters, raised symbols and defined pictograms can enable visually impaired customers to utilise their hands and the increased contrast of the signage to define their position and move towards their target location.

Pictograms and Symbols

Utilising pictograms and symbols alongside text on wayfinding signage is beneficial for a wide range of customers. It can allow customers with full or partial sight to identify different locations at a glance. Individuals with a lower level of literacy or who do not speak English as a first language can also benefit from signage identifying stairs, refreshments and washrooms.

Size

Both the size of the sign itself and the size of the font can directly affect legibility. Ensuring letters are clear, coherent and large enough to easily be read is key to being accessible. This is particularly key for signage that will have a longer viewing distance, such as ceiling signage or signs found behind counters or display cases.

Braille

Including braille on wayfinding signage ensures blind and partially sighted people can navigate your space with confidence. While braille should not be your only accessibility provision, including it on signage is an easy and practical method to include and welcome more customers. Braille should be positioned in a way where it is accessible for touch at a range of heights, including for wheelchair users if possible.

Audio

Audio feedback, such as voice guidance systems and inbuilt speakers, can offer ways for visually impaired people to effectively navigate within buildings. Bluetooth connectivity can also allow voice recognition software on the user’s smartphone to read out a specific location, which paired with AI functionality can allow for directions to specific places.

Mobility Accessibility

Beyond visual changes, mobility is also a key concern with accessible signage. For example, all wayfinding text should be visible from a range of heights, including for wheelchair users. It’s important that the signage itself, especially if it is a totem design or placed on a wall, has a clear space around it to allow individuals to move to and read the text.

Cognitive Accessibility

The use of clear, simple language makes wayfinding signs accessible to a wider range of people, from those with cognitive impairment to individuals who do not speak English well. Visual cues and universal symbols can help to make signs accessible. Maps should be as clear and clutter-free as possible, clearly indicating where you are.

Digital Wayfinding

Integrating digital signage into your wayfinding design can open up numerous opportunities for communication, from text-to-speech displays to connection to mobile applications. Digital wayfinding signs can also provide simple directions to get to a specified location, ideal for those that struggle with map reading.

4 Quick Tips for Effective Accessible Wayfinding

Choosing the Colours

High-contrast colours help text to stand out and ensure it is not muddy from a distance. A high-clarity colour combination, such as black or a similar dark colour on white, offers the highest level of contrast for your signage. The DWP Accessibility Manual provides multiple options to detect colour contrast issues, including WebAIM.

Finding the Font

While there is no strict rule for font size and style, choosing an accessible, large font can make your wayfinding signage as readable as possible, avoiding simulated handwriting, unusually shaped letters and uneven stroke widths. A minimum 14-point text size is recommended by the UK Government. Letters should be spaced out in your chosen font to increase legibility.

Universal Communication

Pictures, icons and similar graphics are a simple and effective way to communicate information to a wider audience. These could include signage for access to washrooms, stairs and information desks. Logos of shops in retail parks or structures can also provide a secondary way to communicate the locations of different places. Flooring and wall signage, such as coloured lines or arrows, can reinforce wayfinding with colour coding.

Visibility and Clarity

Ensuring consistent readability is essential for wayfinding signage. Reducing glare by choosing matte or low-gloss materials helps ensure signs remain legible. In darker areas, introducing lighting around or over signs can bring them to attention and improve contrast for better readability. For overhead signage, viewing distance should inform font size and contrast. Placement should also account for light sources that could cause glare and impair visibility.

Examples of Accessible Wayfinding Design

Examples of accessible wayfinding designs can be found in a wide range of public and commercial environments. Some examples include:

The use of universal pictograms to identify lifts, stairs and washrooms on fixed signage
Tactile signs with a 3D design and braille that allow blind and visually impaired people to navigate effectively
Flooring differentiation with colour-coding and tactile changes in different areas
Audio announcements in train stations accompanying digital arrivals and departure signage

Accessible Wayfinding Design at Image

Integrating accessibility into your wayfinding design is a powerful way to include all your visitors or customers. Image offers bespoke physical and digital wayfinding signage that can be completely customised to meet your accessibility requirements. If you are looking for an experienced wayfinding sign specialist, our team is here to help. Speak to us today to learn more.