CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskAccessible signage specification -- character size, tactile lettering, mounting height and contrast -- plus the dementia-specific wayfinding principles that go beyond a standard accessible sign.
BS 8300-aligned accessible signage guidance sets out specific, checkable figures rather than general principles: character height should be calculated from viewing distance (roughly viewing distance in mm divided by 200), which for a typical door sign read from 1-2m works out to 10-15mm characters. Raised tactile lettering should stand 0.8-1.5mm proud of the background with at least 6mm spacing between characters, with Grade 2 braille positioned directly beneath where the sign identifies a room. Mount signs at 1400-1600mm from finished floor level with at least 100mm clearance from the door frame, and light them to at least 100 lux without glare. Specify a sans-serif typeface in medium-to-bold weight, viewed as close to perpendicular as the fixing position allows.
Sign text against its background should carry a minimum 30-point LRV (Light Reflectance Value) difference -- the same figure used throughout care home dementia design for door-against-wall and handrail-against-wall contrast (see the LRV article in Interior & Domestic Finishes for the full explanation of where this figure applies and where it does not). Black text on a white background achieves roughly 80 points of LRV difference, well clear of the minimum; a mid-tone sign colour on a similarly mid-tone door can fail this requirement even where the two colours look visually distinct to a sighted person without a visual impairment, so check the stated LRV figures published by the manufacturer rather than judging by eye.
A fully BS 8300-compliant sign on every door is necessary but not sufficient for a resident with dementia, who may have lost the ability to reliably read text at all. DSDC guidance recommends layering signage with a consistent wayfinding strategy: use a distinct, unchanging colour for each corridor or wing so residents learn to associate a colour with a destination rather than a room number; combine text with a simple, consistent symbol or photograph (a cup for the dining room, not a stylised icon that requires interpretation); and personalise each resident bedroom door with a photograph, object or colour specific to that resident, positioned at the same 1400-1600mm band as the accessible sign itself so the two systems sit together rather than competing for attention at different heights.
The most common wayfinding failure in care homes is not a missing or non-compliant sign, but inconsistency -- a colour used for one corridor on one floor and a different destination on another, or a symbol style that changes between areas refurbished at different times. When redecorating in phases, document the wayfinding colour and symbol scheme for the whole building before starting the first phase, so later phases match rather than each phase inventing its own local logic. Retrofitting consistency across an already-mismatched scheme is a much larger and more disruptive job than specifying it correctly once.
CareHomeDesk gives you compliance checklists, maintenance logs, and contractor management tools built around exactly this kind of knowledge.