When you plan to design an ADA sign, you need to know the regulations that determine the sign size.

The different factors that you have to take in account are the raised letters and the Braille symbols, in addition to the regular elements of the sign (like graphic design and non-ADA text elements). Preferably, the Braille characters will be below the raised characters (and that will be mandatory when the new regulations will be enforced).

The ADA regulations state that the raised fonts will be 5/8”-2” and the Braille dots will be 0.059” in diameter. The vertical distance between cells should be at least 0.395” and the horizontal separation between cells should be at least 0.241”. That limits the number of characters that could fit in each line and how many lines could be fitted in a certain sign.

The following tables will help you determine the ADA sign size you need for a given text size, or conversely, how many lines and characters you can fit in a given sign.

For example, if you want to use 5/8” letters (0.625”) and you have a sign of 5” x 8”, you would have room for 3 lines with 11 characters in each.

Read more about ADA Fonts, Letters Legibility and ADA Guidelines