Chicago, IL – ADA Signs and Disabilities Act

Chicago, IL – ADA Signs and Disabilities Act

Chicago is a diverse city full of people from different backgrounds, with different needs and wants, and different abilities. As a business owner, you want your products or services to be appealing and accessible to as many people as possible. We often think about diversity in terms of race, sexual orientation, or maybe religion. But, if you don’t live with a disability, it can be easy to overlook how life is for people that do. What can signs do to help make these people aware of your business and point them in your direction?

ADA Signs

One key way that you can make your business or organization accessible to people living with visual impairments is to use ADA signs. ADA stands for “Americans with Disabilities Act” and when this term is applied to signage it typically means making signs readable for those who live with visual impairments. How can you do this? ADA signs need to have clear, large text that is readable for people have limited vision. Such people may not be able to read smaller text or texts with esoteric fonts or unusual colors. All ADA signs must be placed in highly visible areas so they are hard to miss. For those with no or very limited vision, you should have braille on your ADA signs. Braille is the most effective way of reading by touch.

Visual impairments

If you have the use of all of your major senses, it can be difficult to imagine what life would be like without one of them. That is why we so frequently underestimate how many people live with visual impairments. In 2015, The National Institutes of Health estimated that the number of legally blind people in the United States had exceeded one million. And the number of people who have a visual impairment of some kind is much greater. For example, in Illinois alone, over a quarter of a million people live with a visual disability, according to the National Federation of the Blind. There are a lot of potential customers or clients for your Chicagoland business who have a visual disability, but they might not be able to give you their business if you don’t have ADA signs.

ADA signs in Chicago

The Americans with Disabilites Act was a 1990 U.S. federal law that prohibits discrimination against people who live with disabilites. This initial federal law has inspired subsequent laws at the state and municipal levels. As such, every state and every municipality has different ADA laws. To ensure that your Chicagoland business has ADA compliant signage, you need to work with a sign company in Chicagoland that knows all of the relevant ADA laws that would apply to your signs.

SIGNificant Graphics Inc.

SIGNificant Graphics has helped countless businesses in Chicago, Skokie, Evanston, Rosemont, and the surrounding area become ADA compliant. We can design, manufacture, and install your ADA signs as well as inform you of all the ADA laws and regulations that might apply to your Chicagoland business or organization. To learn more about what ADA signs you might need, please contact SIGNificant Graphics at 312-IMPRESS (467-7377) or visit our website www.SIGNificantgraphics.com.

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