Common Problems Arising in the Installation of Accessible Pedestrian Signals

Issue 10: Braille (right side up?)

Where the APS device includes the street name in Braille, care must be taken to install the signs in the correct location and orientation. 

Manufacturers usually impress the Braille into a standard metal sign attached to the APS housing. The typical sign includes print arrows and pedestrian symbols, often on both sides of the sign so that it can be flipped over to be installed on either side of the street. However, when Braille is added, the sign can no longer be reversed. Flipping the sign results in indented and backwards Braille symbols, which are unreadable.

Remedy: Braille is made up of small dots in a grid which are raised on the surface to be read by fingertip. Contractors and installers need to know that the Braille dots should be raised and should check all labels and instructions carefully.

Manufacturers may provide a paper tape label, showing the street name in print and in Braille, on the back side of the sign. The print label is not intended to be visible after the sign is mounted on the pole. In Figure 14, the label can be seen on the outside of the device. Careful inspection reveals that the actual Braille (below the arrow) is indented and all symbols are reversed from those shown on the label. This is not readable by touch! Braille dots must be raised, not indented.

A person who reads Braille could be asked to assist in checking the labels after installations. If the installation agency is not in contact with someone who reads Braille, individuals may be located through vocational rehabilitation agencies, schools for the blind, special education departments of public schools, or consumer groups.¹³ 

^13. There are two major consumer groups of individuals who are blind, the American Council of the Blind, www.acb.org, and the National Federation of the Blind, www.nfb.org, with chapters in many US cities.