New York City Courts
ADA-compliant Signage and Wayfinding System
RDA/NY designed the new, ADA-compliant wayfinding/signage system for 23 New York City court buildings in collaboration with Ronnette Riley Architects,
Given the range and variety of the NYC court buildings’ architecture, from American Victorian to Art Deco to contemporary styles, we developed a system whose materials, color and typography would be discreet in style but unmistakable in function.
Since signage is essentially about a sense of place, this system is also expressive of New York City with a choice of typeface, Gotham, that takes its cues from historic signs found on some of the city’s public as well as commercial buildings.
ADA STANDARDS, SIGNAGE AND WAYFINDING
We surveyed three paradigmatic buildings, including 100 Center St., to determine the possible paths and needs of all user groups, from defendants and their families to jury members and staff. Then we charted the clearest routes to lead users to their destinations. The routes these groups will take depend on many factors, including ability, legal situation, and mental state. The signage system needs to work for all these individual users.
Throughout our lives we all experience changing degrees of ability and disability: as we age our vision may decline; while we’re children, objects may be out of reach; accidents or illness can render us reliant on wheelchairs.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is an extension of the 1964 Civil Rights Act with the purpose to make illegal any discrimination against the disabled in access to goods, services and employment.
ADA signage regulations provide pragmatic tools to improve access to information and locations: messages that are easier to read, signs that are installed in predictable places and at consistent heights; instantly recognizable symbols.