• Compliance signs are needed to inform the disabled of the services available to them.handicap image by Byron Moore from Fotolia.com
  
  The Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 required that institutions put up signs that would allow those who are disabled to be informed of the special facilities that are made available to the disabled. Buildings that must have compliance signs are buildings that are open to the public. Residential buildings do not always have to comply. Businesses can be fined if they do not properly display disability signs, though they usually receive a warning first.
  
  

Universal Handicap Sign

• Handicap-accessible services often have a universal handicap sign, which is a graphical representation of an individual in a wheelchair. For example, facilities must be made available that accommodate the disabled so that they can more easily use restrooms, travel up and down stairways and enter and exit buildings through doorways. In some buildings, individuals who are unable to travel up and down stairs have special elevators designed to accommodate them.
  
  

Parking Spaces

• Parking spaces designed for the disabled must be painted blue so that both the disabled and the non-disabled can know which parking spots are handicap parking spots. Those individuals without a handicap parking license plate who use parking spots designated for the disabled can be ticketed and fined.
  
  

Braille

• Room numbers, restroom signs and elevators must have braille information so that the blind can identify what the rooms are. Braille is a system of dots that symbolize letters, allowing those who are blind to feel the dots in order to make sense of what the sign says. This braille is often placed on compliance signs.
  
  

Unique Signs

• Some unique signs must be provided in unique circumstances. Medical facilities must have covered areas for the loading and unloading of patients with disabilities and must have signs that indicate that these areas are covered.
  
  

Custom Compliance Signs

• Many buildings try to spruce up their compliance signs with different colors, graphics, sizes and fonts. Building owners can also be flexible with where they place their signs. Some owners use actual freestanding signs, while other building owners place the signs on the ground, on a wall or in some other location. As long as the sign is easily visible, the sign will be compliant. These alterations in the compliance signs can set different moods within a particular building. Many compliance signs must also be designed so that they are more durable, since these signs are found in locations where they can be subjected to a lot of damage, causing the signs to become disheveled or unintelligible. Signs that are unintelligible might cause the building owner to not be considered compliant with disabilities regulations.