Nova White Papers – Accessibility SeriesAUSTRALIA

International Accessibility Standards: AUSTRALIASummary

Australia has a well established code structure at the national level that include disability standards. The country enacted an Access to Premise Standards for their Disability Discrimination Act in 1992. These standards, developed into formal language by Standards Australia, a non-profit standards development organization (Documented as AS14281.1) is integrated into the national Building Code for Australia and located in section D3.6 (Last updated in 2009). Braille standards are developed by the Australian Braille Authority. The national building code is enforced by local code officials.

The National Building Code Accessibility Guideline Summary

Scope•Therequirementsofthenationalbuildingcodearelimitedtotheidentificationofaccessiblefacilities,services,

and features.

Braille•Grade1BrailleisusedinAustralia,aformofBraillethatcomplieswiththeUnifiedBrailleCode,aformofBraillewherealllettersandnumbersaregivenaBrailleequivalent.ThisformofBrailleisusedthroughouttheworldbutisdifferentfromtheGrade2standardfoundintheUnitedStates.

•Braillemustbedomed,leftjustifiedtoraisedtext,andbe8mmbelowthetactilecharacters(5/16inches),notincluding descenders.

•WhenmultiplelinesofBrailleareusedasemicirculartextlocatormustbeusedalignedwiththefirstlineoftext.Whereanarrowisusedonatactilesign,asmallarrowtheheightoftheBraillemustbeincludedalongsidetheBraille.

Tactile Characters. •Upper/lowercasetactilelettersarerequiredasopposedtotheuppercaseonlyrequirementintheUnitedStates.Lowercasetactilelettersaremandatedtohaveaheightofnolessthan50%oftheuppercaseletters.

•Uppercasetactilecharactersmusthaveaheightofbetween15-55mm(app.9/16-21/16inch).Thesecharactersmusthaveastrokewithastrokewidthofbetween2-7mm(app.1/16-1/4inch).Onlyfontswithconsistent stroke thickness (San Serif) must be used)

•Charactersmustbeaminimumof17.5mm(11/16inchinheight)permeterofviewingdistance. Most viewing distances are 1-2 meters for signs.

•Textmusthaveaminimumcharacterspacingof2mm(1/16inch)andaminimumwordspacingof 10mm(3/8inch)

•Alltactilecharactersaswellasthesignitselfmusthaveroundededges.

Sign Height and Location•Signheightsandcharacterheightsoffthegroundsurfacearemandates.Forsignheightsthesignshouldbe

between 1200-1600 mm (app. 47-63 inches) while signs with a single line of characters should be between 1250-1350mm(app.49-53inches).Insomecasessignincludinghightrafficareassignscanbeplacedslightly above the heights outlined.

•Ifatallpossiblethesignshouldbeplacedonthelatchsideofthedoorbetween50-300mm(2-6inches)fromthedoormoulding.Ifthisisnotpossiblethesigncanbeplacedonthelatchsideofthedoororthedooritself.

Luminance (Contrast)•Australiahasaformalcontrastrequirementforbothsignsandcharactersof30%minimumluminanceratio

(Similar to light reflectance value). A sign must contrast with the wall behind it, as well as the sign and the charactersonthesign.Ifthesigndoesnotsufficientlycontrastwithitsbackgroundaminimum5mm(3/16inch) contrasting border must be put on the sign.

•Thecodesalsomandateminimumlightinglevelstoensureadequatecontrast.Thisincludesmonitoringlightinglevels in all public areas during open hours.

•Allsigncharactersmusthaveamatteoralowglossfinish.

Symbols•Theinternationalsymbolofaccessibilitymustbeusedinastrictlymandatedapproach.Itmustbeawhitecharacteronabluebackground(B21Ultramarineorsimilar)andthecharactermustbefacingthedirectionoftraffic.Foridentificationsignsthesymbolmustbefacingtotheright.

Restroom Signs•Restroomsignsmustincludebothraisedandvisualsymbolsofaccessibility,maleandfemalesymbols,text

characters and Braille.•SignsforunisexaccessiblerestroomsmustincludethelettersRHorLHtoindicatealeft-handorright-handsidetransferontotheWCpan.Theminimumfontsizeisrequiredtobe20mm(15/16inch)

Restroom Signs •Men’srestroomsignsmustberepresentedbyatriangle¼”thickwith12”longedgesandmustcontrastwiththebackgrounddoor.Thetriangleedgesmustberoundedorchamferedwithaminimum1/8”radius.

•Women’srestroomsignsmustberepresentedbya¼”thick12”diametercircleandmustcontrastwiththebackground door.

•Unisexrestroomsmustberepresentedbya¼”thicktriangletransimposedona¼”circle.Thetrianglemustcontrast with the circle which in turn must contrast with the background door.

•ThenationalADArequiresthatallrestroomsignsmusthaveadditionalraisedlettersandBraille.Ifthedoorsswingoutandadditionaltactilesignmustbeincludedadjacenttothedoor.

Design Recommendations•ThecodeofAustraliaissimilartomanyinternationalcodes,butdeviatesinsignificantwaysfromtheAmerican’swithDisabilitiesAct.Besuretoidentifythesechangesandsimilaritiesifdevelopingamulti-nationalsign system.

•UseonlymetricunitswhenworkingwithAustraliancodes.Englishequivalentsareonlyapproximateandwillnot be approved by code officials.

•Besuretomeasurethelightinglevelwhendevelopingthesignprogram.•Grade1Brailletakesupasignificantamountofspaceonasigncanpotentiallylimittheamountofinformation

that can be used.•Makesuretonotethedifferencebetweencharacterdistancesandsigndistances.Bothmetricsareusedin

the code.

Sign height and location

Sign details

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