Mirtec Canada

Yes! We offer Tactile and BrailleFebruary 10, 2021

Introduction

 

Mirtec Canada is proud to be able to offer tactile and braille signage compliant with OADA accessibility guidelines for signage in all environments. 

Do the words “ADA-compliant” sound intimidating to you? Do you know what Braille is but don’t fully understand how it can be added to your signs? Have you been avoiding specific projects because you are uncertain about how to make signs that are truly ADA-compliant? 
   
Well, you aren’t alone, and we are here to answer your questions! The truth is that ADA signage really isn’t that complicated. First, you will want to understand what the law requires and what is required for building occupancy in your city or province. Some projects may require braille and some will require both tactile and braille to be compliant.

 

Let's take a further look at the definitions of tactile and braille and how the process works!
 

 

What is Braille?

 

Braille is a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision. The ADA specifically mandates “Grade 2” Braille which is a slight variation from Grade 1 Braille which is a letter-for-letter translation. Grade 2 Braille utilizes “contractions” which vary the spellings of some words. Braille translation software is used to convert text to the literary Grade 2 Braille. Each set of dots is a character in an alphabet, and the numbers and some punctuation. 

 

The Raster® Braille method that is used by Mirtec Canada makes creating braille signage quick and easy, and the end result is high quality signage with a clean, uniform appearance. The principle utilized in the Raster method of Braille is that you use your (rotary) engraving machine to drill a series of holes in the substrate delineating the location of the Braille dots. Then you insert spheres (Rasters) into the holes which provide a tactile raised Braille message. Our Raster® Spheres can be used in virtually any material, making it completely customizable. We can apply braille to any of our signage systems! See all products here.

 

What is Tactile?

 

In addition to the braille you will often see raised tactile characters, numbers or pictograms. The Canadian and U.S. sign standards require that tactile characters must be uppercase, sans serif font, and the material must be non-glare or matte. Tactile character depth must be 1/32 inch minimum above the background. The tactile must be in contrast to your background colour (light on dark or dark on light).

 

We recommend that you consider tactile and/or braille in the following areas:

 

 

Mirtec Canada offers a wide range of pictograms and symbols that may be used on your signage. Please click here to download our Pictogram Guide (COMING SOON!)

 

For more information on our tactile and braille signs please contact us.

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