Elevator Control Panels

The control panels inside an elevator cab should be located to the right of the elevator door when facing the door from inside the cab. Where possible, control panels should be on both sides of the door. Avoid using heat sensitive buttons, as people relying on braille or tactile numbers have no means of knowing when or if a button has been pushed. Additionally, because they use touch to locate buttons, every heat-sensitive button they touch will be activated.

Elevator panels should be slightly inclined from vertical to make the buttons easier to read without crouching down. It also makes it easier to read braille and tactile characters.

All panel buttons should be raised at least 1.5 mm in height from the panel’s surface and should be no smaller than 19 mm in any direction on the surface. The call buttons on each floor should be organized in a logical pattern that is consistent within all elevators in a building.

Raised Arabic numerals, letters and other symbols should be placed to the left of the elevator’s call buttons on a colour/brightness-contrasted background. They should be at least 16 mm tall and raised from the surface of the panel by at least 0.8 mm. Characters should be in a sans serif font and not in an italic, oblique, highly decorative or unusual form. The same information indicated for each button through raised characters should also be provided just below them in uncontracted braille.

Use larger, backlit buttons, which are easier to see for people with low vision. Consider using buttons at least 50 mm in size with 38 mm dual illumination numerals (i.e., constant backlit numbers). Ensure there is good contrast between the background and the buttons.

Where provided, the panel that indicates the current floor location should be positioned so that the centre is no more than 1,830 mm from the finished floor. The floor identification information should contrast in colour and brightness to its surroundings in the elevator.

Elevator location floor information should be indicated both audibly and visually:

• Visual characters should be at least 60 mm high.
• Voice annunciation should be used to identify floors and the direction of travel.
• Voice annunciation should be automatically adjusted to remain at least 15 dB above ambient sound.