Assessment of Fire-Safety Symbols

Twenty-five internationally proposed symbols for fire-safety alerting were evaluated for understandability by 91 U.S. participants. Three modes of symbol presentation (slides, placards, and booklets) and two modes of participant response (definition and multiple choice) were studied. Confidence ratings and production data (drawings) were also obtained. Mode of symbol presentation had no significant effect, while definition and multiple-choice response procedures led to generally similar conclusions. Confidence ratings were useful in reconciling discrepancies between the two response methods. The understandability of the 25 symbols ranged from near zero to virtually complete comprehension. The poor performance of some critical symbols such as "exit" was noted, and some potentially dangerous confusions in meaning were revealed.