ARCHIVE: Category Archive for: ADA

5 Signs Your Business Signage Needs an Upgrade

You maintain your business signage, keep it clean and free of graffiti. But as with any major investment, there may come a time when it no longer performs as you expected, no longer brings you the visibility, customers or brand awareness it originally did. In fact, you may even find that your signage portrays the wrong image of your business – an outdated logo, a sign in disrepair, etc. So how do you know it’s time to upgrade or replace your business signage and get it back working for you? The first choice is often to ditch the old signage completely and start fresh, but it’s not always necessary in every situation. In fact, reworking an old sign can improve

Business signage plays an important role in the life of any city, not only because it supports commerce and the livelihood of individual businesses, but also because the overall appearance of a city’s signage helps communicate and even define its character. Think about the differences in signage between Boston and Las Vegas, for example, and what that signage says about each of those cities. Generally, governments do not heavily regulate the content of any signs (although the Americans with Disabilities Act does set forth some standards for signage content). Rather, each city government tends to develop its own set of signage regulations, in an effort to control the appearance of the city’s built infrastructure and also to tame the impulses

How much do you really know about signs and signage? Avid readers of this Metro Sign and Awning blog are probably near-experts in signs and signage, with a detailed understanding of signage technology and an encyclopedic knowledge of signage history. To see how much you know, here’s a quick quiz based on previous posts in this blog. How many answers can you get right? All the answers should be known to you, provided you’ve been reading this blog: Question 1: What many people don’t know about ADA signage is: a) The rules are all about putting Braille where blind people can read it. b) The rules are all about helping people with mobility problems. c) The rules are all about

The term “ADA Signs” is now in widespread use among architects, general contractors, developers, and signage experts. “ADA” stands, of course, for the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the term “ADA Signs” is misunderstood almost as often as it is interpreted correctly. For example: 1. A great many people believe that “ADA Signs” refers to those containing Braille symbols for the benefit of people who are visually impaired. That’s like saying elevators are installed in buildings for the benefit of people who are unable to climb stairs. The claim is true, as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. While signs containing Braille and other raised characters are a highly visible expression of the ADA requirements,

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which first became the law of the land in 1991, has made incalculable improvements in the lives of countless people. More recently revised in 2010 and made mandatory as of March 15, 2012 for virtually all new construction and renovations, the ADA has resulted in a system of “best practices” that make it possible for disabled persons to access and enjoy an extremely wide range of public and private built environments. Many people think the ADA just requires Braille on certain signs, but it’s considerably more comprehensive than that. Compliance can impact a great many of your project’s signage (and design/construction) specifications. Unfortunately, the ADA’s requirements are sometimes ambiguous. That’s one reason Metro Sign

Sometimes it takes a combination of experience and expertise to “bring it all to life.” For The Blackstone, a 145-unit residential build out in Boston, CWC Builders needed interior signage that was ADA compliant and that reinforced the interior design theme. CWC selected Metro Sign & Awning because, among other things, Metro’s design team and fabricators could handle the entire job in-house. That was important, because CWC’s architects would specify a combination of materials not every signage company can handle. CWC recognized one of the benefits of partnering with Metro Sign is that many of our designers and fabricators have more than 25 years of experience combining materials – not to mention delivering complicated jobs on time, on spec, and

New ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act) regulations regarding signs went into effect March 15, 2012. The 2010 Standards set minimum requirements – both scoping and technical – for newly designed and constructed or altered State and local government facilities, public accommodations, and commercial facilities to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. Are you compliant? Do you have to be? Here, some quick answers to some of the questions we’re most often asked. Q: Do I have to worry about ADA regulations? A: Just about every business that provides goods or services to the public must comply. There are 12 categories of public accommodations, including stores, restaurants, bars, service establishments, theaters, hotels,recreational facilities, private museums and schools, doctors’

At Metro Sign and Awning, we recently upgraded our equipment in an effort to offer to our customers advanced ADA and Way Finding Signage. Many clients aren’t aware of various options available and that we can help them create a design to compliment their application as well as their budget if brought in during the development stages. We work with architects and developers related to various industries (Health Care, Hotel, Professional, Residential) while offering consultation on color, design, technique, application and budget of a complete sign package that includes both interior as well as exterior signage. Check out this useful post about the importance of wayfinding planning committees for hospitals by clicking here.