Avery Dennison Collaborates with Direct Color Systems for ADA-Compliant Signage

Mentor, Ohio-based Avery Dennison, makers of pressure-sensitive vinyls, coatings and labels used in sign making and vehicle wraps, announces a collaboration with Rocky Hill, Connecticut-based Direct Color Systems, a manufacturer of direct-to-substrate, small-format UV-LED inkjet printers.

Under this partnership, Avery Dennison’s films will be used in DCS’s printing process to allow shops to make ADA-compliant, braille signage quickly and economically.

The Direct Jet 1800z, 7200z, and the new 1800BG Braille and Graphics UV LED printers from DCS-typically used for two-dimensional output but which can also handle three-dimensional printing-can be used to create ADA-compliant braille signage on a variety of substrates. DCS manufactures braille sign printers that offer customers the option of either first-surface or second-surface graphics when creating raised-texture signage on acrylic substrates. The company says that standard 6″ x 8″ signs can be output in fewer than four minutes, with a full digitally printed background, raised letters and braille dots.

“Our collaboration program with Avery Dennison Graphic Solutions will greatly widen the capabilities of our patented printing process and offer customers a new and cost-effective way to create signage compliant with federal ADA guidelines,” says Blair Allen, president of DCS. “I look forward to launching our first solutions together soon. Through this relationship, we believe we will deliver the most innovative sign-printing solution on the market today.”

Adds Paul Roba, OEM relationships manager with Avery Dennison: “Today, when it comes to producing ADA-compliant braille signs, customers either go through a complicated and costly engraving process or have to purchase a limited range of expensive rigid substrates that may present printing and durability challenges over time. This new collaboration between Avery Dennison Graphics Solutions and DCS will enable more customers to experience the leading durability and cost-effectiveness of Avery Dennison films, a solution previously unavailable to these applications. Ultimately, the result will benefit the blind who read braille and help those who are visually impaired more easily read important information by touch.”