Fire Exit Signage & Dyslexia

[Ricardo]

I wonder if anyone can provide any useful information with regards to something I have heard about from a third party, regarding a European Directive(don’t know any more than that) stating we are no longer permitted to accept a fire exit sign that say's

PUSH BAR TO OPEN in this format due to dyslexia.

Person’s with this problem apparently find it difficult to read block capitals, therefore it has to be Push Bar To Open or push bar to open.

Is there any advice you can offer regarding this or even put me towards this “European Directive” if it exists.

 

Many Thanks

[Peter Wilkinson]

It would make sense and be consistent with the latest guidance regarding wayfinding and directional exit signage, which recommends that 'Title Case' is easier to read than 'UPPER CASE'.  

However, I thought that the recommendation was for the benefit of all- I've not heard the dyslexia connection before.

[jokar]

Whilst, dyslexia has 4 differing parts and signs may be a difficulty for people with learning difficulties which have the written word on them, the idea was for all signs to have pictograms to alleviate this and other difficulties such as language.  A picture is worth a 1000 words, I seem to remember.

[Ricardo]

Thanks Gents so far for the replies, I have since heard that the person who was asking about this said that this info came from BSI, and they referred to BS 5499- 1;2002, the only thing I see there is under clause 12 "Lettering" saying the font shall be either;

a) Helvetica medium or

b) another sans serif font with characteristics as detailed.

and 12.2 Text says- The Initial letter of the first word shall be upper case and the remainder of the wording shall be lower case. But I cant see any reference to persons with dislexia.

Ricardo

[Jim Creak]

As a member of this Standards Committee the use of supplementary text  was deemed to be an extremely important consideration particularly as most of the graphical symbols used to convey safety meanings are not understood by the majority of people let alone unanimously which should be the case for effective communication strategy. Appropriate supplementary text is required to conform to Standard. Standard is not Law but deemed in court of Law as best practice.
British Standard have to consider that sentence text is deemed to be better for the young, people with learning difficulties,people with newly aquired reading skills and therefore more appropriate than Capital text. Dyslexias are complicated and should be considered on a case by case basis but it is known that children with dyslexias are taught in sentence text first so the Standard certainly helps. 10% of the adult population have reading difficulties so this is one to consider for the DDA

[Ricardo]

Jim

Your comments are most interesting.

Thanks

[Ken Taylor]

It has been said that people tend to read largely by recognition of word shape rather than aggregating individual letter sounds - and that lower case is, therefore, far more easily read and understood than capitals. You will see that text on safety signs and road signs now generally appears in this format.

[CivvyFSO]

Read this nice and quick....

It has aslo been siad taht so lnog as you get the frist and lsat letetr corerct msot poelpe can raed it qiute eaisly.

[Ken Taylor]

Looks like many of the contributions here - but does prove the point.

[fred]

Food for thought ....................  there are at least two pictograms used world wide - often used in an emergency - recognised and fully understood by everyone and anyone - instantly - universally - with no requirement for supportive text !!

The silhouette signs for the Ladies and Gents toilets.

[Renny Thomson]

Food for thought ....................  there are at least two pictograms used world wide - often used in an emergency - recognised and fully understood by everyone and anyone - instantly - universally - with no requirement for supportive text !!

The silhouette signs for the Ladies and Gents toilets.

If only that was true =)

You have not been to some of the "trendy" places where they use stylised pictograms on the toilet doors, especially on the continent or regionally themed pubs. It can cause a few moments of delay before you decide which door to choose :O  .

[Ken Taylor]

I was just about to walk into the 'Gents' in a department store this afternoon when a woman beat me to it - and she wasn't wearing trousers so there was no excuse.

[Mr. P]

Do Scotts have a problem with these door marks?  Just wonderin' about their kilt wearers!

[Chris Houston]

Do Scotts have a problem with these door marks?  Just wonderin' about their kilt wearers!

No.