By Gordon Rugg
Here’s what a typical piece of signage looks like to about 10% of the people visiting a public place such as a hospital or a school.
About 10% of the population have significant reading difficulties. They might be able to figure out what a sign says, given enough time. They might not.
Here’s what a typical piece of signage looks like to another significant proportion of visitors.
A lot of people have visual problems; this is particularly likely to be an issue in places like hospitals, which people with visual problems attend for treatment. Signage can also look like this to people with good eyesight if the lighting is poor or the weather is bad.
So what can you do about this problem? There are some simple, cheap solutions which aren’t as widely known as they should be. That’s the topic of this article.
Some classic types of landmark: Images from Wikimedia Commons
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