At times I think our passion clouds our judgement and impacts our professionalism. Through this thread there seem to be a number of incorrect assertions that I find a bit alarming. Are we an opinions-based community?
Is "Exit" an international standard? Clearly not, from what people have said on this thread "Way out" is common in many countries, including in the London underground, which has been used as a benchmark around the world. Emergency exit is not necessarily the shortest way out! Emergency exit route is planned with consideration to situations like fire. It therefore directs people through a safer route out, which could be longer, not shorter (e.g. stairs instead of lift). While "Exit" might be an uncommon word in written and spoken English, it is one of the more prominent words in signage and as part of wayfinding. There is some international consistency in the use of safety and warning colours. Accepted use for emergency exit signs is white text on green background, which has different manifestations in different countries, based on local standards and local building regulations: in some countries it just says "EXIT" In others it just shows the pictogram of a man running through a door and elsewhere it has both. In some countries it is bilingual. Often, the word Emergency is not included in the sign. In many places Emergency exits are not reserved only for emergency (some theatres, shopping malls) and in other places they are. What might add to the confusion regarding purpose and nomenclature is that emergency exit sign location planning is typically done by the architects and Wayfinding sign content is planned by a separate consultant. ~ j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45282 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
