Background
Most of us rely on our vision almost exclusively, such that it’s nearly impossible to imagine getting around our lives without it. Yet we have so many other ways of absorbing information about our world, and museums have the unique ability to present exhibits and programs that exercise the myriad senses.
Since the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1980, museums have been fulfilling the basic requirements to provide accessibility for people with visual impairments. However, a few museums are taking it much further and creating whole new programs for their visually-impaired patrons. Here we will explore the needs of this particular audience and look at how some museums are serving these visitors.
Considerations
First, it is important to remember that there is a range of visual impairments, and thus museums should make their content accessible to visitors with low vision as well as those who are blind. All aspects of a museum, from the physical building to the public programs, should be developed with universal comfort and accessibility as the goal.
The following are a few ways museums can serve the needs of their visually-impaired visitors:
Exhibits with tactile elements:
- Touchable models of objects and artworks
- The chance to touch actual artworks while wearing gloves (made of a thin material so that textures can be felt through them)
- Versions of flat artworks with added textures, layers, or raised outlines
- Touchable maps of the museum, galleries, and exhibits
- Interactive components and demonstrations with verbal instructions
Audio components:
- Spoken tours with audio enhancement devices (earpieces that connect to the tour guide’s microphone)
- Verbal descriptions of artworks, exhibits, and other objects by trained museum personnel
- Portable audio or cell phone guides and tours
- Podcasts of museum programs and information
- Sound on video elements in exhibits, with either audible speakers or headphones
- Talking computer kiosks in galleries
Other considerations:
- Printed self-guides in large type and Braille
- Exhibit text panels with large font
- Bright lighting in all walkways, aisles, stairwells and doorways
- Clear walking paths free of obstacles
- Texture changes on the floor (such as carpet to wood) to indicate different areas of an exhibit or to identify audio components for visitors to find
- Exhibit furniture (display cases, kiosks) on the floor beneath any elements that protrude from the wall, such that a cane would hit them to indicate that the person should step aside
- Service animals allowed in all areas of the museum
If all exhibits and programs at the museum are built from the ground up with multi-sensory components, then their content will be more easily accessible to all visitors and all learning styles.
It is important to keep in mind that, while there is sometimes no substitute for the assistance of another human being, the museum’s goal should be to create galleries and programs that are independently navigable whenever possible.
Case studies
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens - Jacksonville, Florida
Since its inception over 50 years ago, the Cummer Museum has been serving its community through art and education. Right from its home page, the museum states that its “Nationally recognized education programs serve adults and children of all abilities.”
One of the best-known education programs is Art Connections, described as “hands-on, interactive exhibits designed to raise visitors' understanding of the art… In Art Connections, it is possible to walk through a painting, create patterns through dance, make a collage, listen to a sculpture, or paint with a virtual paintbrush.” The museum is home to a chapter of Very Special Arts, an international organization for people of all abilities. The annual Very Special Arts Festival allows children to experience art through many different channels and participate in creative projects to make their own art.
The museum also features a Women of Vision program, which brings together adults with visual impairments to study art in the collections. Participants create their own pieces with sculpture, origami, painting and other media, and have the opportunity to write personal memoirs inspired by the museum’s collections. Touch tours can be arranged by appointment, in which patrons can touch reproductions and original artworks from the collection. The museum has other programs for visitors with autism or mobility impairments. Clearly, the Cummer Museum has devoted great energy to serving all its patrons regardless of how they make their way through life.
Tactile Museum of Lighthouse for the Blind – Athens, Greece
Designed from the ground up to serve visitors with visual impairments, the Tactile Museum in Athens has been around since 1984. The museum features replica models of Greek artworks from the country’s long artistic history, including sculptures, pottery, models of Greek buildings, and drawings with raised lines and layers. The collection also includes works of art created by visually-impaired artists.
Visitors can touch the collections with their bare hands and feel the differences in texture, style, and materials. Sighted visitors are given masks so they can experience the museum as though they were blind. The artworks are arranged in chronological order, allowing patrons to visualize the evolution of artistic styles in Greece.
Information about each historical period is available in Braille and large print type. Audio tours are available in both Greek and English. However, the museum has no permanent staff and relies heavily on volunteers. Visits in groups must be made by appointment. Nevertheless, this museum is serving an important purpose in allowing all Greek citizens to personally experience their country’s artistic history.
Where do we go from here?
The art museums of the world have certainly made an effort to reach their visually-impaired visitors with touch tours, verbal descriptions, touchable replica models, interactive creative workshops, and other programs. The next challenge seems to be making other types of museums—history, science, and natural history—more accessible to people with limited vision. Many of these museums often already have interactive elements, but without verbal directions or auditory information these exhibit components are not independently usable by visitors with visual disabilities.
What are some ways that science and history museums can alter their existing galleries, or build new ones, that are multi-sensory and accessible to all visitors?
Sources
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens
Tactile Museum of Lighthouse for the Blind
Most of us rely on our vision almost exclusively, such that it’s nearly impossible to imagine getting around our lives without it. Yet we have so many other ways of absorbing information about our world, and museums have the unique ability to present exhibits and programs that exercise the myriad senses.
Since the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1980, museums have been fulfilling the basic requirements to provide accessibility for people with visual impairments. However, a few museums are taking it much further and creating whole new programs for their visually-impaired patrons. Here we will explore the needs of this particular audience and look at how some museums are serving these visitors.
Considerations
First, it is important to remember that there is a range of visual impairments, and thus museums should make their content accessible to visitors with low vision as well as those who are blind. All aspects of a museum, from the physical building to the public programs, should be developed with universal comfort and accessibility as the goal.
The following are a few ways museums can serve the needs of their visually-impaired visitors:
Exhibits with tactile elements:
- Touchable models of objects and artworks
- The chance to touch actual artworks while wearing gloves (made of a thin material so that textures can be felt through them)
- Versions of flat artworks with added textures, layers, or raised outlines
- Touchable maps of the museum, galleries, and exhibits
- Interactive components and demonstrations with verbal instructions
Audio components:
- Spoken tours with audio enhancement devices (earpieces that connect to the tour guide’s microphone)
- Verbal descriptions of artworks, exhibits, and other objects by trained museum personnel
- Portable audio or cell phone guides and tours
- Podcasts of museum programs and information
- Sound on video elements in exhibits, with either audible speakers or headphones
- Talking computer kiosks in galleries
Other considerations:
- Printed self-guides in large type and Braille
- Exhibit text panels with large font
- Bright lighting in all walkways, aisles, stairwells and doorways
- Clear walking paths free of obstacles
- Texture changes on the floor (such as carpet to wood) to indicate different areas of an exhibit or to identify audio components for visitors to find
- Exhibit furniture (display cases, kiosks) on the floor beneath any elements that protrude from the wall, such that a cane would hit them to indicate that the person should step aside
- Service animals allowed in all areas of the museum
If all exhibits and programs at the museum are built from the ground up with multi-sensory components, then their content will be more easily accessible to all visitors and all learning styles.
It is important to keep in mind that, while there is sometimes no substitute for the assistance of another human being, the museum’s goal should be to create galleries and programs that are independently navigable whenever possible.
Case studies
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens - Jacksonville, Florida
Since its inception over 50 years ago, the Cummer Museum has been serving its community through art and education. Right from its home page, the museum states that its “Nationally recognized education programs serve adults and children of all abilities.”
One of the best-known education programs is Art Connections, described as “hands-on, interactive exhibits designed to raise visitors' understanding of the art… In Art Connections, it is possible to walk through a painting, create patterns through dance, make a collage, listen to a sculpture, or paint with a virtual paintbrush.” The museum is home to a chapter of Very Special Arts, an international organization for people of all abilities. The annual Very Special Arts Festival allows children to experience art through many different channels and participate in creative projects to make their own art.
The museum also features a Women of Vision program, which brings together adults with visual impairments to study art in the collections. Participants create their own pieces with sculpture, origami, painting and other media, and have the opportunity to write personal memoirs inspired by the museum’s collections. Touch tours can be arranged by appointment, in which patrons can touch reproductions and original artworks from the collection. The museum has other programs for visitors with autism or mobility impairments. Clearly, the Cummer Museum has devoted great energy to serving all its patrons regardless of how they make their way through life.
Tactile Museum of Lighthouse for the Blind – Athens, Greece
Designed from the ground up to serve visitors with visual impairments, the Tactile Museum in Athens has been around since 1984. The museum features replica models of Greek artworks from the country’s long artistic history, including sculptures, pottery, models of Greek buildings, and drawings with raised lines and layers. The collection also includes works of art created by visually-impaired artists.
Visitors can touch the collections with their bare hands and feel the differences in texture, style, and materials. Sighted visitors are given masks so they can experience the museum as though they were blind. The artworks are arranged in chronological order, allowing patrons to visualize the evolution of artistic styles in Greece.
Information about each historical period is available in Braille and large print type. Audio tours are available in both Greek and English. However, the museum has no permanent staff and relies heavily on volunteers. Visits in groups must be made by appointment. Nevertheless, this museum is serving an important purpose in allowing all Greek citizens to personally experience their country’s artistic history.
Where do we go from here?
The art museums of the world have certainly made an effort to reach their visually-impaired visitors with touch tours, verbal descriptions, touchable replica models, interactive creative workshops, and other programs. The next challenge seems to be making other types of museums—history, science, and natural history—more accessible to people with limited vision. Many of these museums often already have interactive elements, but without verbal directions or auditory information these exhibit components are not independently usable by visitors with visual disabilities.
What are some ways that science and history museums can alter their existing galleries, or build new ones, that are multi-sensory and accessible to all visitors?
Sources
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens
Tactile Museum of Lighthouse for the Blind
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