Results of the ARCHES Project now online

‘The visit to the museum should be a moment of learning, of discovery.’ (Eduardo, Madrid Exploration Group)

The aim of the ARCHES project was to work towards a museum for all. The consortium partners and participants wanted to challenge perceptions of inclusion and exclusion, moving beyond the notion of disability categories and working instead with people’s access preferences.

In this video, our British Sign Language avatar explains how ARCHES works. You can also see a more detailed version of this video and download the spoken text and a short description as a word document. The photographs in the video are by Sabine Gruber, one of the participants of the ARCHES research group in Vienna.

The results of our 3 year project are guidelines and publications, apps, multisensory materials, and games.

Some of the results can be consulted in the Technology section of the trilingual ARCHES webpage.

One of the highlights is Towards a participatory museum, the How-to-Guide on inclusive activities. Written by Helena Garcia Carrizosa, Jara Diaz and Felicitas Sisinni, with Rotraut Krall, Anne Fay, Suzana Skrbic and Sarah Fairbairn, edited by Moritz Neumüller. This guide was printed in 2019, in English, Spanish and German, in an edition of 600 copies, as part of the dissemination of the ARCHES Project.
ISBN English 978-3-903312-00-5, Spanish 978-3-903312-01-2, German 978-3-903312-02-9.
It is available in PDF for download. Towards a participatory museum. A How-to-Guide on inclusive activities (5MB), also available in low resolution (1MB) and as a Word document.

To request a paper copy, please write to press@arches-project.eu.

Furthermore, there are other useful documents for your own work with participatory research in museums, and a list of related academic publications.

You can also see the works of our participants, such as drawings, photos and videos, and the manifestos of the different groups.

In this video, it is our participants who explain how ARCHES works. You can download the spoken text and a short description of the video as a Word document. This video is in English with BSL translation. The same video is available in Spanish and German, with respective sign languages.

If you want to get in touch with ARCHES, please write to info@arches-project.eu.

Call for papers on Inclusive Experiences in Exhibition Design. Deadline: April 13, 2015

The journal Exhibitionist invites proposals for its spring 2015 issue, Creating an Inclusive Experience: Exhibitions & Universal Design.
Proposals of 250 words maximum are due by April 13, 2015.

You can find the Call for Papers at: http://name-aam.org/about/news

Call for Papers Fall 2015 Exhibitionist

DATELINE: February 20, 2015

Download this document

Creating an Inclusive Experience: Exhibitions and Universal Design

Proposals due April 13, 2015

In 2015, we celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the American With Disabilities Act (ADA). To mark this milestone,Exhibitionist takes on the topic of “Universal Design.” While Universal Design evolved from Accessible Design—and uses accessibility as a starting point—it goes further. It recognizes that human abilities are wide-ranging, and that all of us, if we live out a typical lifespan, will experience some sort of functional limitation. For those involved with exhibitions, this means creating environments that are usable by everyone with the least amount of adaptation. It calls for creative and imaginative ways to engage the widest possible group of users.

For this issue, we seek proposals that focus on exhibitions as a whole—or on elements within an exhibition (such as media, technology, multisensory elements, label-writing, etc.)—that incorporate the principles of Universal Design.* The exhibitions (or installations) can be of any size, and take place in any of a variety of spaces: museums of all disciplines, historical sites, institutions that collect and display living collections, or other environments.

Proposals can also focus on broader institutional strategies for including Universal Design in exhibition making, or on teaching Universal Design to those who create exhibitions. Proposals might come from designers, curators, developers, writers, architects, educators, collection managers, or others who create and contribute to exhibitions. As much as possible, if a case study, research project, or student experience is submitted, the article should not focus on a single project or institution without raising questions or throwing light on larger issues that are widely applicable.

Submissions from colleagues and students around the world are welcome and encouraged.

Deadlines

Proposal due: April 13, 2015. 250 words maximum. Briefly describe your article; how it relates to the issue theme; and your background/qualifications for writing the article. Proposals will be vetted by our editorial advisory board, and you will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance.

First draft due: June 12, 2015. 2,000 words maximum (approximately four single-spaced pages) with four to five high-resolution images, captions, and credits. Your article will be returned to you with comments and edits by theExhibitionist editorial advisors and editor.

Final article due: August 11, 2015

Please send all submissions via email to:
Ellen Snyder-Grenier (esnydergrenier at yahoo.com)
Editor, Exhibitionist, the journal of the National Association for Museum Exhibition (NAME)

Include Asia Conference 2013 Proceedings online

The proceedings of “Include Asia 2013”, held 2-3 July 2013, at the Hong Kong Design Centre, in Hong Kong, China, under the theme “Global Challenges and Local Solutions in Inclusive Design” is now online.

The confrerence was organised by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Hong Kong Design Centre and the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Papers include Helping Visually Impaired Visitor ‘See’ Exhibits in Hong Kong Museums by Meng Kheong Chan, Kin Wai Michael Siu;

Museum For All Project in Japan – Co-creating ‘My Kind of Museum’ by Yasuyuki Hirai, Hiroyasu Ota, Tomomi Okazaki, Kozue Handa, Ayumi Umeda, Noboru Matsuura, Laila Cassim, Tomoko Takei;

Vocal and Tangible Interaction Crossing Borders by Anders-Petter Andersson, Birgitta Cappelen … among many others.

Thank you to our Japanese friends from Museum For All Project for this hint!

• Include Asia 2013 proceedings
• Download Conference Programme here
• Download Paper Sessions here
• Speakers
• Chairs

Great War Centenary – Accessible for all

From 2014 to 2018, Belgium will be in the international spotlight regarding the commemoration of ‘The Great War Centenary”. The province of Flanders expects tens of thousands of foreign visitors of all ages, some of whom will have some form of accesibility issue. To this end, their Tourism service Visit Flanders has initiated the “The Great War Centenary – accesible to everyone” project. The project strives for integral accesibility of the acitivities commemorating WW I for the broadest possible public.

Download the PDF brochure here or go to the Great War Centenary website.

Thank you to Bart Vermandere from westkans for providing us with this information.

MuseumForAll.eu

Anastasia Kalou on the European Blind Union’s “Access to Culture” project (repost)

European Blind Union survey of access to culture

Repost from http://www.accesstourismnz.org.nz, where it was posted by Dr. Sandra Rhodda, on July 17, 2013.

---

Guest blog by Anastasia Kalou, an access consultant and advisory panel member at the European Blind Union’s ATC project.

The European Blind Union (EBU) is the united voice of blind and partially sighted people in Europe, protecting their rights and promoting their interests for full participation in social, economic, political and cultural life, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability (UNCRPD), and the the Council of Europe Action Plan (2006-2015) on “Full Participation of People with Disabilities in Society”.  Recently, EBU conducted a small scale pilot survey regarding access at cultural venues and activities for the Blind and partially–sighted people in Europe.  Access to Culture (ATC) Project 2011-2012 aimed to describe

• current levels of access
• good practice
• national legislation and policies for access to culture
• barriers and scope for improvement

The survey focused on the accessibility at a range of cultural venues and activities, such as theatres, cinema, opera, dance performances, concerts, museums, galleries, heritage sites, and visitor attractions in six countries.  One survey was sent to EBU national member organisations, and another to cultural organisations known to have developed good practices in accessibility for visually impaired people. Survey results show that:

• the cultural rights of people with visual disability are poorly implemented
• many cultural sector funding and project development practices discriminate against people with a disability

The report concludes with a Call for Action for cultural policy and strategy change at European, national and local levels in order to urgently address the over-riding conclusions of the survey.  Findings of the survey will be widely disseminated in Europe and serve as a tool for advocacy and lobbying for change.

Stockholm 3D Printed

A 3D Printed Scale Model of the Entire City of StockholmArticle reposted from 3D Printing Newsletter, by Juho Vesanto On Tue, June 18, 2013.

Mitekgruppen, a Swedish scale-model company, created an almost exact replica of the city of Stockholm using Stratasys Dimension Series FDM 3D printers. Even though scaled down replicas of practically every major landmark — from the Golden Gate bridge to Big Ben — have been created with 3D printing tech before, bringing an entire city to life is quite a unique and remarkable feat: the created model of Stockholm is a full 157 square foot (scale 1:1000) in size. The Stockholm project used two Stratasys printers, running 24/7, seven days a week for six months before they finally fulfilled their remit and were given a vacation from their day & night job of creating the models.

Prior to the Stockholm project, originally commissioned in 2005 by the city, the company had been using only traditional means to create their models – paper, glue and wood combined with the blood, sweat and tears involved in manual, intricate labour. The fundamental reasons for tipping the scale to 3D printing’s side were the continuity and real-world reminiscent features of the commission – the model of the city was to be updated and revamped according to actual changes that take place in the infrastructure and city image every half a year. This meant that putting long hours into wood carving and other phases of the traditional process wasn’t an ideal or relevant approach to be used in this case.

Jumping on the 3D printing train from the traditional methodologies wasn’t something that could be done overnight though – the physical, technical and mental factors, as well as changes in general attitude, approach and the operating model required a realistic transition phase. In Mitekgruppen’s case, that period lasted for a full nine months, during which time the project team took a crash course in CAD modelling, 3D printing tech, new SW and other required tools that would enable them to get the job done as efficiently and smoothly as humanly possible.

The effort the team put into learning the ropes of the 3D printing world didn’t go to waste even after finishing the base model of the city – the company currently starts every project with 3D printed models and prototypes, after which their current weapon of choice – a Stratasys Fortus 250mc – is also used to make some of the actual end-products in addition to other manufacturing techniques and technologies such as laser cutting and milling.

The model of Stockholm is currently not on display anywhere — but it is being prepared to be showcased in a yet undisclosed location (in Sweden of course).

Source: Stratasys blog

Tactile Photography

Have a look at the article From Stereoscopy to Tactile Photography, a new multisensory discipline, which is based on the principles of stereoscopy and the computer-aided conversion of digital images into reliefs. The tactile photographs can be produced as real objects – on 3D-Printers for example. This new discipline can be especially interesting for visually impaired artists, but is not limited to “disability arts”.

Tactile photography connects with a long-lasting interest in enhancing photography with the illusion of depth and physical space, which it shares with multi-photography, Andrew Davidhazy’s peripheral photography (developed in the 1960s), the Lumière
Brothers’ photostereo synthesis, and with photosculpture.

Download PDF of the article From Stereoscopy to Tactile Photography.

Adapted astronomy: “The sky in your hands” – “O Céu nas tuas mãos” Astronomia adaptada

(Reblogged from Património Português Acessível)

Between 19 November 2012 and 19 January 2013, visitors to Lisbon’s Planetário Calouste Gulbenkian (Calouste Gulbenkian Planetarium) can participate in a multisensory plantearium exhibition, incorporating tactile elements. The exhibition, supported by the Portuguese visually impaired people’s association Associação dos Cegos e Amblíopes de Portugal (ACAPO) and national science and technology agency Ciência Viva, was first shown in Valencia, Spain, before moving to Espinho, Portugal. The aim is to bring astronomy to a wider audience, in particular allowing visually impaired people to find out about astronomy.

During sessions of the exhibitions, visitors can touch hemispheres with tactile representations of the constellations, while audio information is played. Visual images of  constellations are simulataneously projected onto the planetarium dome, allowing everyone to enjoy the experience.

Information in Portuguese / Informações em Português: 

Estão a decorrer no Planetário de Lisboa desde o dia 19 de Novembro, uma exposição tátil e uma sessão de planetário. Esta exposição conta com o apoio da “Ciência Viva” e da ACAPO .

A Sessão de Planetário “O Céu nas tuas mãos” está a decorrer entre 19 de Novembro e 19 de Janeiro de 2013, no Planetário Calouste Gulbenkian ou Planetário de Lisboa, como é mais conhecido. Este projeto foi iniciado em Valência, Espanha, já passou este ano no planetário de Espinho. Pretende chegar a um público mais alargado, neste caso, pessoas com baixa visão ou pessoas invisuais.

Em cada sessão serão disponibilizadas aos participantes semi-esferas, num total de 64 por sessão, que as formas das constelações, ao mesmo tempo que será passada o ma banda sonora. “Um equivalente visual será projetado na cúpula do planetário, tornando a experiência acessível a todos”.

Tips to make your Website Accessible (Repost)

Top Tips

Taking five minutes to test out your website can make the world of difference. So how accessible is your site?

Can you:

• Find instructions easily about how to navigate your site and what short cuts to use?
• Navigate your whole site without using your mouse e.g tab across? How far does it get you?
• Navigate your site without using a mouse using standard access shortcuts e.g. b for about, 1 for Home page?
• Increase your text size – how far does it increase from original?
• What font style do you use – is it Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, sans serif? If not then it is more difficult to read.
• Can you change the background colour and contrast e.g. black/white, white/black, black on pastel?
• Does your site feature videos? Are they subtitled? What about audio described?
• Do you use audio content such as audioboo? Do you provide a transcript?
• Do you have alt descriptions on your images?
• use a screen reader with your site?
• Find the Accessibility Statement outlining how to navigate the site?
• Find the A A A tab on the home page? Does it work?

If you can’t do any of the above  how can your visitors? So what will you be doing to make your website accessible?

Repost from http://www.peskypeople.co.uk

Art Beyond Sight Telephone Conference Crash Course – 29 October

As part of Art Beyond Sight awareness month, which also includes this week’s Multimodal Approaches to Learning Conference (see 25 September blog post), a telephone conference crash course will be held on Monday 29 October.

The course, aimed at museum professionals and anyone wishing to improve access to culture, will include professional development sessions on:

• cost and cost-effectiveness of accessibility programmes
• website accessibility
• grant writing and accessibility

The course will also explore audience research and engagement for small museums and present challenges and successes of pilot programmes, as well as featuring a roundtable of docents (museum guides).

You can find the full programme, along with information about all the Art Beyond Sight awareness month activities, on the Art Beyond Sight website.