Tactile and Braille Evacuation Diagrams in Australia (DDA, AS 3745, Production Realities)

A standard AS 3745 evacuation diagram is a sighted-user artefact. The "you are here" indicator, the colour-coded exit routes, the pictograms for fire equipment, the floor plan itself, all assume the reader can see them. For occupants who are blind or have low vision, the standard diagram is functionally invisible. The Australian regulatory backdrop has expectations on both sides of this gap, but the artefact that closes it is not on most building procurement schedules.

This post covers what tactile and braille evacuation diagrams are, what the Disability Discrimination Act, the Premises Standards, and AS 3745 say about them, and how to procure them alongside the standard sighted diagram set without paying twice for the same artefact.

The Australian regulatory backdrop

No single Australian instrument prescribes a tactile evacuation diagram in detail. The expectation emerges from the intersection of several frameworks, which is why most facilities discover the requirement only when an occupant or accessibility coordinator raises it.

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth). The DDA prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability, including indirect discrimination through inaccessible building information. Emergency information that only sighted occupants can read is a textbook indirect discrimination example.
• Disability (Access to Premises, Buildings) Standards 2010. The Premises Standards apply to most public buildings undergoing new construction or significant upgrade. They mandate accessible features (entries, paths of travel, signage, sanitary facilities) and reference AS 1428 series for technical detail.
• AS 1428.1 and AS 1428.2. Design for access and mobility, general and enhanced requirements. Cover signage, tactile ground surface indicators, lift controls, and door hardware accessibility.
• AS 1428.4.1. Means to assist orientation, tactile ground surface indicators (TGSIs). Relevant where tactile elements lead to or surround the diagram mount point.
• AS 1428.4.2. Means to assist orientation, wayfinding signs. The closest Australian standard on tactile and braille signage detail; covers character height, contrast, mounting height, braille placement, and tactile lettering specifications.
• AS 3745:2010. Planning for emergencies in facilities. Silent on tactile-specific diagrams; sets the underlying compliance framework for any evacuation diagram, sighted or tactile.

AS 3745 says the diagram must support evacuation; AS 1428.4.2 says signage in accessible buildings must support tactile and braille readability; the DDA says emergency information must not indirectly discriminate. The tactile evacuation diagram sits in the overlap. The premises standards apply most strongly in government buildings, public-access buildings, and large new commercial developments; private offices below the premises-standards threshold are still exposed to the DDA general duty.

What a tactile evacuation diagram is (and is not)

A tactile evacuation diagram is a raised-relief floor plan that a blind or low-vision occupant reads by touch. The level of detail is intentionally simpler than the sighted diagram, because tactile reading is slower and the cognitive load on the reader is higher.

• Raised perimeter outlining the building footprint, with separation between rooms and corridors readable as ridges or recessed channels.
• Tactile symbols for the "you are here" location, exits (primary and alternative), assembly area direction, and key fire equipment (extinguisher, hose reel, manual call point, panel).
• Braille labels for the most important elements: "you are here", "primary exit", "alternative exit", "assembly area", "fire extinguisher", "manual call point". Not every diagram element needs a label; over-labelling reduces tactile readability.
• Visual diagram alongside the tactile portion (most installations are integrated, not tactile-only) so a sighted companion can read the same artefact.
• High contrast colour palette in the visual portion (typically white and a saturated dark colour) to support low-vision users who have residual sight.
• Mounting hardware that holds the diagram at the AS 1428.4.2 reach height and reading angle.

A tactile diagram is not a verbatim translation of the sighted diagram. Detailed room-name labels, decorative graphics, fine pictogram detail, and small distance scales are intentionally simplified or omitted. The goal is fast tactile reading under stress, not comprehensive information transfer.

Production techniques

Tactile diagrams in Australia are produced through several techniques, each with different cost, durability, and revision characteristics. The choice depends on building type, expected service life, and how often the diagram will need updates.

• Photopolymer plate. UV-cured photopolymer over a printed substrate, producing a precisely-formed raised surface. High detail, durable, resistant to handling wear. Most common for fixed-location signage in government and high-traffic public buildings. Higher unit cost; revisions require remaking the plate.
• Thermoform. Heated plastic vacuum-formed over a master mould. Robust, suitable for high-traffic locations, supports complex topology. Moulds amortise across multiple sites if the diagram is standardised; small-quantity orders are cost-inefficient.
• Swell paper (microcapsule paper). Paper coated with heat-reactive microcapsules that expand on exposure to infrared heat. Lower cost, fast turnaround, suitable for trial installations or revision-heavy contexts. Less durable than photopolymer or thermoform; typically protected behind a glass-fronted frame.
• CNC routed signage. Tactile elements milled into a solid material (acrylic, aluminium, composite). Long service life and high tamper resistance; well-suited to outdoor or harsh-environment installations. Higher production cost; design changes require remilling.
• Combination 3D-printing and overlay. Modern 3D printing produces the tactile relief, with a printed visual layer bonded over it. Useful for complex multi-level buildings where each level needs a separate tactile diagram. Cost is dropping but durability for high-traffic public installations is still being evaluated by some specifiers.

Most Australian tactile diagram suppliers offer photopolymer or thermoform as the default for fixed installations, with swell paper for low-traffic or temporary contexts. Production lead times run two to four weeks for first articles and one to two weeks for repeat or near-identical orders.

Installation locations and mounting

Tactile diagrams are not installed at every diagram mount point in a building. They are installed at the locations where a blind or low-vision occupant is most likely to need orientation: arrival points, decision points, and fixed-location services.

• Accessible building entrance, immediately past the entry threshold so an arriving occupant can orient on entry.
• Lift lobby on each floor, where the lift control panel braille meets the broader floor wayfinding need.
• Accessible toilet entry corridors, particularly in larger buildings where the accessible toilet is offset from the main lobby.
• Reception desk or building concierge area, mounted at a height a seated user can reach.
• Major decision points along the accessible path of travel (junction of main corridor with cross-corridor, top of accessible ramp, exit from a shared atrium).
• After-hours accessible entry, if it differs from the daytime entry.

Mounting height and angle follow AS 1428.4.2: typically the centreline of the tactile elements at 1200 mm to 1600 mm above finished floor level, with the tactile face oriented for reading at an angle that supports both standing and seated readers. Mount-point selection should be coordinated with PEEPs so that occupants with documented egress needs have a tactile reference at every transition point on their plan.

Audio wayfinding integration

Tactile diagrams pair naturally with audio wayfinding for occupants who prefer or require auditory information. The combination significantly extends the usefulness of the diagram beyond pure tactile reading.

• QR code embedded in the diagram (or the adjacent wall plate) that opens an audio-described description of the floor layout, exit routes, and assembly area direction.
• BluedotAccess, BindiMaps, or NaviLens-equivalent indoor navigation services, where the building has invested in the broader wayfinding platform. The tactile diagram acts as the static fallback when the digital service is unavailable.
• Beacon-triggered audio cues at the diagram mount point, useful in larger public buildings where the audio prompt orients the occupant to the diagram before tactile reading begins.
• Phone-screen-reader-compatible PDF version of the diagram description, hosted at a URL printed in braille on the diagram for occupants who prefer to consume the information through their own assistive technology.

Audio wayfinding is not a substitute for the tactile artefact. Power outage, network failure, or device-battery depletion are all common evacuation conditions, and the tactile diagram needs to function without any of these. Audio is a complement, not a replacement.

The accessibility egress procedure that pairs with the diagram

A tactile diagram is part of the building emergency response, not a standalone artefact. The procedure that supports it should be documented in the same emergency plan that covers the sighted occupant evacuation.

• PEEP coverage for any occupant with a documented egress need, including blind and low-vision occupants who need a buddy assignment, evacuation chair, or guided egress procedure.
• Warden training on guided egress for blind and low-vision occupants, including verbal description of the route ("five paces forward, then turn left at the corner"), arm-grip-not-shoulder-grip technique, and stair descent technique.
• Visitor and contractor protocol for accessible-arrival registration, so wardens know which non-staff occupants on site may need guided egress.
• Tactile diagram in the emergency manual photographic record, so the diagram itself is part of the documented emergency response artefacts the EPC reviews annually.
• Drill scenarios that include simulated accessible egress at least every two to three drill cycles, so the procedure is tested under live conditions, not assumed.

Industries that most often need this paired procedure are healthcare, aged care, government, education, and NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation, where the proportion of occupants with documented disability is materially higher than in general commercial settings.

Procurement: specialist supplier alongside the AS 3745 supplier

Tactile and braille diagram production is specialist work. Most general AS 3745 evacuation diagram suppliers in Australia, including EvacPath, do not produce the tactile artefact in-house. The procurement pattern that works is two-supplier coordination on a single underlying source file.

• Step 1. Commission the AS 3745 sighted evacuation diagram from a general supplier. Ensure the contract includes master file delivery in a format the tactile specialist can use (typically Visio .vsdx, AutoCAD .dwg, or Adobe Illustrator .ai).
• Step 2. Brief the tactile specialist with the master file, the building layout, the AS 1428.4.2 reading-height specification, and the list of mount-point locations agreed with the building manager.
• Step 3. The tactile specialist produces the tactile and braille artefact, typically with the visual portion based on the AS 3745 sighted master so both diagrams are visually consistent.
• Step 4. Install both artefacts on a coordinated schedule. The sighted diagram goes at the standard mount points; the tactile diagram goes at the accessibility mount points.
• Step 5. Lock the version archive across both suppliers. When the sighted diagram is updated, the tactile specialist needs the updated master to refresh their artefact, because the tactile diagram is downstream of the sighted diagram.

The version-archive clause discussed in the multi-site procurement post becomes load-bearing here. If the sighted supplier holds the master file with no archive obligation, the tactile specialist cannot refresh their artefact when the layout changes, and the two diagrams drift out of sync. The two-supplier pattern is more common than a single-supplier-handles-both pattern, because tactile production equipment (photopolymer UV beds, thermoform vacuum tables, CNC routers) is rarely co-located with general signage production. Trying to source both from a single supplier often means paying a markup on the tactile portion that subcontracts back to the same specialist anyway.

Cost ranges and procurement notes

Tactile and braille diagrams cost meaningfully more than sighted-only diagrams. The premium reflects the specialist production process, lower production volumes, and the design-development time on each new layout.

• Photopolymer tactile diagram, single floor, single mount point: typically A$400 to A$900 per artefact in production-only cost. First-article design and braille translation can add A$200 to A$600 per design.
• Thermoform tactile diagram with custom mould: A$300 to A$700 per artefact in production, plus mould tooling cost of A$800 to A$2,500 amortised across the order.
• Swell paper tactile diagram, framed: A$150 to A$300 per artefact, suitable for trial installations or low-traffic positions.
• Multi-site or multi-floor orders typically attract volume discounts of 10 to 20% on the production unit cost, similar to the volume mechanics in the sighted-diagram procurement post.
• Audio wayfinding QR code integration is usually a small incremental cost, A$50 to A$150 per diagram, with hosting of the audio file as a separate annual cost.

For procurement teams, the practical implication is that tactile diagrams should be commissioned for the high-priority accessibility mount points first (accessible entrance, main lift lobby) and rolled out from there as the budget allows. Trying to install tactile coverage at every mount point at once is rarely cost-effective; phasing aligns better with the way the underlying accessibility population uses the building.

How EvacPath supports the workflow

EvacPath produces AS 3745-aligned evacuation diagrams for Australian businesses. Tactile and braille production is specialist work that we do not perform in-house. Where a client needs both sighted and tactile diagrams, our role is to produce a high-quality sighted master that the tactile specialist can use as the basis for their artefact, and to deliver master files in formats the specialist can convert directly.

Master file delivery (Visio .vsdx, with .dwg or .pdf companion if needed) is negotiable into our contracts. The floor plan formats post covers the input side; for tactile specialist handover, the output formats matter just as much. Where the client is running a multi-site portfolio with mixed sighted-only and sighted-plus-tactile sites, the multi-site procurement post covers the contract structure that handles both supplier streams cleanly.

We work across hospitals, aged care facilities, government buildings, and NDIS specialist disability accommodation where tactile diagram coverage is most often required. Industry pages: healthcare, aged care, and SDA accommodation.

Send your floor plan and a list of accessibility mount points through the /get-started page. We deliver the AS 3745 sighted set in 3 to 5 business days, with master files and a tactile-specialist handover pack on request. We can also recommend Australian tactile suppliers we have worked with on prior projects.