Pedestrian Push Button Accessibility Requirements
Accessibility improvements help make pedestrian facilities usable by people of all ages and capabilities
Push button options for Carmanah’s crosswalk beacon systems
Our rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) and circular flashing crosswalk beacon series products have three types of push buttons. These vary by cost and the number of accessibility features they provide.
Push buttons with SOME accessibility features
Includes:
- ADA compliant
- 2-inch pressable surface area
- Less than 2 lbs. required operating force
- Two-tone audible and visual LED confirmation
Lacks:
- No locator tone
- No audible message
- No raised directional arrow
- Not PROWAG compliant
Push buttons with ALL accessibility features
Includes:
- ADA compliant
- 2-inch pressable surface area
- Less than 2 lbs. required operating force
- Visual LED confirmation
- Locator tone
- Audible voice message: “Yellow lights are flashing”
- Raised directional arrow
Push buttons with ALL accessibility features + non-contact operation
Includes:
- ADA compliant
- 2-inch pressable surface area
- Less than 2 lbs. required operating force
- Visual LED confirmation
- Locator tone
- Audible voice message: “Yellow lights are flashing”
- Raised directional arrow
- Built-in sensor for non-contact actuation
Standards and compliance for accessible pedestrian signals and crosswalks
All pedestrian infrastructure, especially crosswalks, should be accessible to everyone, regardless of age or ability. Key elements like curb ramps, pavement markings, crossing times, and detectable warnings stem from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which mandates public environments to accommodate people with disabilities.
Pedestrian push buttons are part of this infrastructure and must also meet ADA standards. The FHWA’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) set the baseline for designing and installing these push buttons.
PROWAG mandates that when pedestrian signals or warning beacons are installed or altered, they must include accessible push buttons. Specifically, PROWAG (and, by extension, the ADA) states:
“When a pedestrian push button or passive detection device is used for pedestrian-activated warning devices, like rectangular rapid flashing beacons, it must activate a speech message indicating the beacon’s status instead of an audible walk signal. The speech message volume must comply with R308.4. Push buttons should not include vibrotactile features indicating a walk interval.” (R303.7)
For more information on Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) and ADA-compliant push buttons, visit Polara Enterprises, our partner under the Synapse-ITS umbrella.
Pedestrian push button accessibility and cost matrix
Previously, pedestrian push buttons with all accessibility features had larger power requirements and needed larger solar crosswalk systems to operate sustainably. Innovations to the energy efficiency of these pushbuttons now allow for a smaller solar system to power them sustainably—providing fully ADA-accessible crosswalks at a lower overall system cost than before.
Explore the matrix below to see which pushbuttons are available for Carmanah’s solar system sizes.
