International Symbol of Access
Encyclopedia
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
square
Square (geometry)
In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral. This means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles...
overlaid in white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
with a stylized image of a person using a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
. It is maintained as an international standard
International standard
International standards are standards developed by international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use, worldwide...
, ISO 7001
ISO 7001
ISO 7001 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization that defines a set of pictograms and symbols for public information...
, and a copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed image of the International Commission on Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), a committee of Rehabilitation International
Rehabilitation International
Rehabilitation International is an international disability rights organization with a secretariat based in New York U.S.. Founded in 1922, RI has more than 700 member organizations in 90 countries...
. It was designed by Susanne Koefoed in 1968.
The symbol is often seen where access has been improved, particularly for wheelchair users, but also for other disability issues. Frequently, the symbol denotes the removal of environmental barriers, such as steps, to help also older people, parents with baby carriages, and travellers. Universal design
Universal design
Universal design refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments that are inherently accessible to both people without disabilities and people with disabilities....
aims to obviate the need for such symbols by creating products and facilities that are accessible to nearly all users from the start. The wheelchair symbol is "International" and therefore not accompanied by Braille in any particular language.
Specific uses of the ISA include:
- Marking a parking space reserved for vehicles used by disabled people/blue badge holders
- Marking a vehicle used by a disabled person, often for permission to use a space
- Marking a public lavatory with facilities designed for wheelchair users
- Indicating a button to activate an automatic door
- Indicating an accessible transit station or vehicle
- Indicating a transit route that uses accessible vehicles
The ISA is assigned the Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
codepoint U+267F, showing as ♿
A compatible font such as DejaVu Sans must be installed to view the character.
Building codes such as the California Builders Code, Section 1117B.5.8 Symbols of Accessibility require "a white figure on a blue background. The blue shall be equal to Color No. 15090 in Federal Standard 595B."