Peter Reynolds, Managing Director of Wayfinders, a trusted wayfinding solutions company in Dublin, Ireland, advocates for accessible wayfinding—an important aspect of inclusive design that ensures spaces are navigable for all users. Peter has been a longstanding distributor partner of Modulex, and we’ve collaborated together for many years.

We had the pleasure of sitting with him and gathering his knowledge and insights into accessible design. “To me, accessible wayfinding means helping as many users as possible navigate a building without assistance,” he explains. “It’s an essential element of inclusive design because the core purpose is for someone to move around unencumbered, which means they need to find their way.”

So, what exactly differentiates accessible wayfinding from traditional systems? According to Peter, it shouldn’t. “Accessible wayfinding should be at the heart of all wayfinding systems,” he insists. “The important elements are that the wayfinding is reachable, legible, and findable.” These basic principles guide the creation of wayfinding solutions, ensuring they cater to users with varying abilities.

Practical Tools for Accessible Wayfinding

Peter emphasizes the importance of finding ways to find things well rather than merely incorporating elements like Braille or auditory cues for accessibility. “The most important thing is that the wayfinding is done well. I’ve seen buildings where the wayfinding might have been done fifty years ago, but it was done effectively. People find their way around,” he says. “Compare that to some modern implementations, where compliance might be met with Braille and tactile features, but the overall system leaves most users lost.”

He believes a good wayfinding system starts with a well-conceptualized strategy that helps people orient themselves within the building. “Adding tactile elements or Braille only works if the underlying system is coherent. It’s about creating a clear hierarchy and zonal systems with good colour coding, allowing users to find their way intuitively.”

Balancing Aesthetic Design and Accessibility

One of the significant challenges Peter highlights is balancing aesthetic design with accessibility requirements—”with some difficulty,” he admits. The key is to start with the accessible elements and then work on making them visually appealing. In practical terms, negative space is essential—if you scale up the signage, you create more room for it to breathe.”

Typography also plays a vital role. “You can’t just pick a trendy font and slap it on a sign anymore,” He explains. “You need to think about legibility, layout, and how the sign interacts with the space around it. We lean towards minimalistic modern designs across heritage buildings and brand-new spaces.”

Integrating Accessible Wayfinding into Existing Environments

Integrating accessible wayfinding into older or existing environments can be tricky, but Peter’s philosophy is clear: “We don’t implement wayfinding systems in parallel to existing ones. The most important thing about a good system is that it eliminates confusion, and two systems are inherently confusing.” His approach is always to “rip and replace” an old system with a new, unified solution that addresses the needs of all users.

He points out that older buildings that are not designed with inclusivity in mind present unique challenges. “In retrofitting spaces like 1950s or 70s buildings, we often use tactile indicators on the floor or integrate technology to overcome design limitations.”