Category: accessibility

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3D-printing accessibility archaeology exhibits publications research tactile

Designing an Exhibit of 3D-Printed Replicas

I’m pleased to announce the publication of Designing a portable museum display of Native American stone projectile points (arrowheads) to ensure accessibility and tactile quality written with Joe Nicoli and Donald Winiecki  in the Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research.

We describe making 3D-printed replicas of artifacts found in the collections of the Maryland Archaeological and Conservation Laboratory. Then we prototyped a design that attached QR codes to the replicas by a lanyard.

Scanning these QR codes with a smartphone prompted the user to access a webpage with more information about each artifact. Participants at a Tactile graphics conference were successful in scanning the QR code with their smartphones and following the link to the associated webpage.

I also included this project in another paper about using smartphones to access information about exhibits. Start by reading this blog post from April 2020 to learn more.

13 3D-printed replica stone points, with3D-printed replicas of projectile points attached by lanyard to QR codes. QR code coins.

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accessibility exhibits publications tactile

Please Do Touch The Art

My second essay written for the Redefine/ABLE exhibit is titled Please Do Touch the Art

The essay is a discussion of tactile art. When I wrote the first draft in February 2020, it was about the need for more tactile objects in museums.

Then the coronavirus pandemic started, touching objects became taboo, and that essay required significant revisions. Now, it includes recommendations about safely touching objects in museum exhibits, and it links to a few resources. I offer this essay as a conversation-starter because I plan to revisit this topic in the near future.

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accessibility exhibits publications

Redefine/ABLE

Redefine/ABLE

During the 2019-2020 academic year, I consulted with the 2020 University of Maryland, College Park graphic design cohort that researched and created an exhibit about disability, ableism, and the benefits of universal design. Ableism is the discrimination against those with disabilities. Universal design counteracts ableism. Universal design is an approach to creating systems, spaces and objects that meet the needs of all people.

Originally designed as a multi-site, cross-platform exhibition, due to the COVID-19 pandemic Redefine/ABLE: Challenging Inaccessibility is now an online experience that addresses diversity, inclusion and ableism. It seeks to engage audiences about the successes and challenges of persons with disabilities in Maryland and beyond.

The Covid-19 pandemic became a discussion topic for this exhibit. The project director and I wrote this essay examining the effects of post-pandemic responses on people with disabilities.

We also submitted this Q&A to another University of Maryland blog.

Additional content will be added to the Redefine/ABLE project website during July and August 2020. It will remain online after that date. I would like to thank the project team for their dedication to this project and their determination to display it virtually.

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3D-printing accessibility exhibits publications tactile

Creating Re-Usable Tactile Handouts

I’m pleased to announce publication of a guest post on the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) blog about creating tactile handouts. Special thanks go out to my co-authors, Ann Cunningham and Matt Gesualdi, for their contributions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating new norms that discourage touching all manner of objects to curtail the spread of the virus. However, when public spaces reopen, understandable concern about disease transmission may lead museums to prohibit tactile exploration of objects, creating an unintended access barrier for people who are blind. We imagine a scenario where visitors could borrow tactile handouts, use them for reference as they tour an exhibit, and then return them to the museum for treatment and later re-use.

Read more on the AAM website.

Staying in Touch: Addressing Concerns to Allow Tactile Exploration at Museums
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accessibility

Planning Accessible Virtual Events

In the time that we have been at home to limit the spread of covid-19, I have attended three online conferences, presented in a webinar, and had numerous zoom calls. Even as we re-open, I expect online meetings to continue to be common. I am sharing resources with information on planning virtual events that are accessible to people with disabilities. This list of helpful links was prepared by Robin Marquis, an Accessibility in the Arts Consultant who works in Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Resources

Rooted Rights: How to Make Your Virtual Meetings and Events Accessible to the Disability Community

How to Make Your Virtual Meetings and Events Accessible to the Disability Community

National Endowment for the Arts: Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility for your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities

https://www.arts.gov/accessibility/accessibility-resources/resources-to-help-ensure-accessibility-for-your-virtual-events-for-people-with-disabilities

Cooper Hewitt Guidelines for Image Description

https://www.cooperhewitt.org/cooper-hewitt-guidelines-for-image-description/

National Center on Disability and Journalism: Disability Language Style Guide (available in Spanish and English)

Disability Language Style Guide

We presented this Online Inclusion Webinar for the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture. The video is near the bottom of this events page under the heading for online lectures and webinars.

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accessibility publications research

Attitudes of Blind People About Museums

In 2018, my colleague, Don Winiecki, and I conducted an online survey that collected data about the museum experiences of adults who are blind or have low vision. We document strategies that survey participants employ to gain information about the content of exhibits despite facing access barriers to their participation. Strategies can be characterized as either in-sourcing (using resources provided by museums, or out-sourcing (gathering information from sources not provided by the museum, for example a sighted companion or third-party accessibility application on a personal device). I presented a paper about the survey results at MW20.

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accessibility exhibits publications research

museum information on cell phones

The smartphones that many of us use daily have the ability to receive content about museum exhibits. People who are blind or have low vision can use their preferred accessibility settings on their personal devices to access content in museum exhibits. I presented work on this topic at the MW20 conference. Here is the link to my paper.