Hi Caliber Blog

Many business owners have a general understanding of The Americans with Disabilities Act as it relates to their general day-to-day operation. When it comes to ADA compliant signage, professional sign companies can help businesses and organizations build practical signs. These ADA compliance signs not only meet the requirements of the law but contribute to the aesthetics of the environment.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance signs are still fairly new and something many have misconceptions about.   In its simplest form,ada compliance signs are “Architectural” signs that comply with ADA requirements.  To understand this “simplest” explanation though you first need to know what the ADA is and what Architectural signs are. 

As a business owner, building a brand is essential.  Appropriately placed signage is a major pathway to potential customers.  Walk-ins enter a business because they spotted a sign that caught their eye.  Memorable signage reminds existing customers of your business and keeps them coming back. All of these considerations can be overwhelming. Professional sign designers, like Hi Caliber Signs, can help to guide them in the right direction with high quality products to boost business.  They can also help business owners maintain compliance with ADA requirements. 

Ensuring that your business is ADA compliant is arguably more important today than ever before. In many areas the government is cracking down hard on companies who do not fully comply, often by employing people to simply scour commercial streets and slap penalties on any businesses spotting breaking the rules.

  

When it comes time to refresh or remodel a room or the whole house, then it is time to consider the ease and beauty of custom designed wall coverings instead of traditional wall paper.  Custom wall coverings will make any portion of your home or office as unique as you are.

Choosing wall paper conjures up images of searching for just the right pattern in just the right color in just the right amount. It is an often frustrating and time consuming task that can end with having to "settle" for something that is close to what you had in mind, but not exactly it.  With our custom designed wall coverings the task becomes a joy and the end result is completely what you want and unlike anyone elses' walls will ever be.

A meeting with our graphic artist is the first step. A collaboration between the two of you will result in any image you want converted into beautiful art for your walls.  Whether it is a photograph you have taken, art work from your children or a vision that you have, we can translate that into easily installed and cared for wall art. If you can dream it we can print it.

Installation is quick and done by our professional crew.  We will set a date and time that is convenient to you and be there promptly. 

This is also an ideal solution if you are renting or leasing your home or office. When removal is required there will be no filling in of holes or repairing existing sheetrock or wall surfaces. Prep work is minimal and our professionals can remove your custom wall covering in a short time with little clean up required.

So whether you want to bring the outdoors in, brighten up your living room, create the illusion of a window in an interior room, prepare for a new addition to your family, or just plain want to redecorate give custom wall coverings a look. Our initial consultation will give you all the answers and when installation is complete, you will have a piece of artwork that will bring beauty to your environment, display your own creativity and be a focal point of your home or office.

A lasting second impression?  You bet!  Of course your great signage outside your building made a good first impression, but it is just as important to make a strong second impression with a great reception area or lobby sign. These reinforce your brand not only to visitors and customers, but also to your employees. 

Hi Caliber Signs wraps just about anything from video gaming consoles to generators to racing motorcycles and now Quinlan ISD's Band truck.  This has been an exciting project for us. The Quinlan ISD folks in Qinlan, Texas came up with the artwork and I think it is a clean and eye catching design. This is sure to garner spirit amongst the band members, the parents and the faculty alike. Hi Caliber Signs is fully equiped to handle your wrap, large or small, full or partial, 1 vehicle or 100. Call us today.  972-509-9250

Hi Caliber Signs has designed, fabricated and installed tons of lobby signs, or you may refer to them as reception signs.  However, when approached by the Schumacher Group we had a request that was not only a first for us, but turned out to be an excellent idea.  It seem that they thought it would be a good idea to display newsletters from their various locations on their lobby sign.  What a great idea, and an interesting challenge.  

A complete Architectural Sign System is always a Challenge

We're up for it!

The designers went to work and in colaboration with the Haggard folks arrived at a basic design that met all of the criteria.  The text is raised where needed for the visually impaired, the contrast ratio is correct and contracted braille is applied where appropriate.  The parts of the signs that may need to be changed from time to time are cut appliqued vinyl, so it is easy and inexpensive to change.  Special consideration was given to the stairwell signs to that they met ADA, NFPA 101 and local building code. After all approvals were finalized the production crew went to work.  Once the production was finished and quality assurance was passed it went to installation.  In order to speed up production several templates were made with marking points at the locations of the holes to be drilled for the special wall anchors used in conjunction with the standoff system.  The templates also had a plumb bob and plumb line that was set to the correct height.  In this way all the installers had to do was to place the template on the wall and align the plumb line. Then a firm press left the 4 drill points lightly marked on the wall.  All four holes could then be quickly drilled, the anchors inserted and the appropriate sign installed.  The entire installation of over 90 signs was completed in a single Saturday, ensuring minimum disruption to daily business activities. 

Health care signs with universal symbols can be an important tool in increasing access to a facility's services. Over recent decades, as the issue of access has gained increasing attention, facility managers have adopted strategies such as retaining language interpreters on staff or on call, and publishing materials in multiple languages.  In the last half dozen years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has made a set of icons available that promise to ameliorate the problem as well.  Of course, as with any design challenge, health care signs with universal symbols must be crafted to maximize their effectiveness.  It is crucial that such materials be applied with a clear understanding of the institution's individual circumstances.  An experienced signage developer can be very helpful in this process. 

The glossary of visual icons for health care signs with universal symbols consists of 54 symbols, covering the vast majority of activities that visitors and staff will encounter in any facility.  They were developed over a period of years, with the help of test subjects who are speakers of a variety of languages and come from a stunning range of cultural backgrounds.  This was a crucial feature of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation development process, because health care signs with universal symbols will be read by folks whose preconceptions of what constitutes a chapel, for example, or a bathroom, to use another example, could be radically different from visitor to visitor.  Each symbol was put through at least three stages of testing, presenting a menu of alternatives.  From these, testers could choose the one that that they perceived as most clearly expressing the term being evaluated, whether "Chapel", or "Ophthalmology", or one of the other several dozen possible departments and activity centers

In order to create a system of health care signs with universal symbols the facility should first test and document how visitors find their way (or fail to) with current signage, printed materials, and other cues.  This should be followed by interviews with staff and visitors of as many categories as possible, to determine their impression of the way-finding system that is in place already, no matter how rudimentary.  The feedback about the experience of users of the facility, gleaned from these interviews, should be analyzed to discover where the potential points of confusion are.

The system of health care signs with universal symbols, along with other materials such as brochures, flyers, as well as wall and floor color cues, that results from these investigations needs careful and thoughtful attention to correct installation.  Size, placement, color, saturation, lighting, supplemental text, and other factors can affect the way that any sign, including health care signs with universal symbols, impact the viewer.  A  firm that has specialized experience and competencies in advising health care facilities on such issues is the best choice, especially if the facility does not have a fully staffed department to deal with signage matters.

A well-thought out system of health care signs with universal symbols will welcome all to the facility, no matter their background.  It reaches out to all who enter, and indicates the institution's willingness to be truly there for all members of their community.  It demonstrates a commitment to access for everyone that cannot help augment institutional success.