What is DDA?

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in the United Kingdom in 1995, this gives disabled persons rights in areas such as employment, education, buying or renting land or property and access to goods, facilities and services. The DDA has led to an increased number of public facilities becoming equipped with Braille and tactile signage and way-finding systems to ensure easy and user-friendly access to commercial, government, public and residential buildings

Symbols of Accessibility

Facilities are required to be identified as accessible by should be marked with the international sign of accessibility shown here.

DDA and ADA guidelines for signage

Character Proportion – Tactile letters and numbers on signs should have a width-to-height ratio between 3:5 and 1:1 and a stroke-width-to-height ratio between 1:5 and 1:10.

Character Height – Characters and numbers on signs need to be sized according to the viewing distance and height above ground from which they are to be read.

Raised and Brailled Characters and Pictograms

Letters and numbers must be raised 0.75mm, upper case, sans serif or simple serif type and should be accompanied with Grade 2 Braille. Raised characters should be a minimum 16mm in height, but not more than 50mm. Pictograms should be accompanied by the equivalent text description positioned directly below or alongside the pictogram. The border of the pictogram should be a minimum height of 150mm.

Colour and finish

The characters and background of signs should be non-glare finish. Characters and symbols must contrast with their background ( either light characters on a dark background or dark characters on a light background).

Position - Location and Height

Where permanent identification is provided for rooms and spaces, signs should be installed on the wall adjacent to the latch side of the door. Where there is no wall space to the latch side of the door, including at double opening doors, signs should be sited on the nearest adjacent wall. Mounting height should be 1525mm above floor level to the centre of the sign. The chosen location for a sign should allow a person to approach within 75mm of the sign without encountering protruding objects or standing within the swing range of a door.

Symbols of Accessibility

Facilities required to be identified as accessible by should be marked with the international sign of accessibility.