Summary notes from Alison's visit to the National Gallery of Canada conference entitled "Collections, Connections, Communities: Making Museums and Galleries in Canada inclusive and accessible".
Exhibition design for Access: A universal design approach
- this presentation was quite critical of the "one size fits all" aspect of universal design. it emphasized the importance of universal design as a baseline, and going beyond this by doing consultation with community stakeholders and by doing user testing.
- Brian Casey, an education specialist at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, gave an overview of the museum's "Braille: Knowledge at your Fingertips" exhibition. (more info about the exhibition is here: http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/whatson/tempexhibits.cfm#braille). This was a partnership between the museum and the CNIB.
- a discussion about access barriers in museums followed. Access barriers discussed were: wayfinding; modality translation; small font sizes; physical affordances; language related (e.g. French? English? ASL?); lack of visual aids to address low vision (e.g. colour blindness, colour contrast); cost of attending museums; museum hours
- solutions to these access bariers were discussed: better architecture & signage; legislation; frontline staff training; information and promotion of accessibility affordances
Checklist for "Universal Design" in museums:
1. start with physical access, keeping in mind:
a) circulation - can traffic (esp. wheelchair users, people w/ service dogs) move around the artifact or display?
b) is the furniture height appropriate?
c) is there knee clearance underneath?
2. Visibility
a) viewing angles
b) lighting levels
c) barriers to visibility?
3. Protection & Security
a) is the collection secure?
b) conservation requirements taken care of?
c) staff & visitor safety
4) Information treatment
a) visual communication
b) attraction
c) text size & contrast
5) Check in
consultation with stakeholder communities & user testing should occur iteratively along points 1-5.