• The ADA requires buildings to follow strict regulations.Yellow Dog Productions/Lifesize/Getty Images
  
  The American with Disabilities Act, or ADA, provides regulations and guidelines for handicap accessibility in the construction of a new building. The document contains much technical language and 10 different sections with many subsections. However, some of the most basic specifications of the Act can provide an outline of how to best fit a building to the needs of the disabled.
  
  

Bathrooms

• ADA accessibility specifications require that the route and doors to bathrooms within a building must meet basic width, head room, surface texture and slope guidelines. These guidelines are spelled out in the official Title III ADA Regulation document. Additionally, sinks must contain a knee clearance of 34 inches above the finished floor and urinals must be hung from the stall or the wall no higher than 17 inches from the finished floor.
  
  

Ramps

• Buildings that contain ramps must provide the smallest slope possible, with a rise of no more than 30 inches. If the ramp has a rise more than 6 or is longer than 72 inches, it must include handrails on both sides of the ramp. These rails should be placed between 34 and 38 inches. All ramps should be a no less than 36 inches wide.
  
  

Parking

• All parking lots must contain at least one accessibility space per every 25 spaces. Two percent of spaces must be accessibility spaces if the parking lot possess more than 500 spaces. Guidelines change entirely once the number of spaces reaches more than 1,000. An aisle next to each parking spot must be provided. This aisle should be 60 inches or more. For every eight accessibility spaces, one must include an aisle that is 96 inches or more for a van.
  
  

Sign Specs

• All signs must be fitted with a character ratio between 3:5 and 1:1 for width-to-height, and 1:5 and 1:10 for the width-to-height stroke, the ratio between the line thickness of the letters to how tall each letter extends. All character heights must be at least 3 inches but should be adjusted according to the distance from which they need to be read. As a general guideline, a capital letter "X" should be able to be read at any distance. All characters should be adjusted to the same size as the "X."