Question for #blind and partially sighted folk on the fediverse:

Question for #blind and partially sighted folk on the fediverse:

If you go to a museum or gallery, do you prefer braille or do you instead use a text to speech app?

(Or both, or something else)

I've got a bit of money to refurbish a small UK museum space with better provisions for Deaf and Blind folk, so I'm keen to know what will be the most useful.

Please Note: This is a question specifically for blind and partially sighted Fedi users, rather than fully sighted folk.

@DarkSheepArts Rab may be able to offer some input here @RabBrucesSpider1

@ginger_tosser @DarkSheepArts Personally, I don’t read Braille,. Not every blind person does, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t invaluable for those who do. However, my best experience around museums is when they provide their own audio description of the exhibits. Many have recorded descriptions and explanations which are available in a portable device into which you plug earphones. You can pause & rewind, then follow the audio tour at your own pace.

@DarkSheepArts At work (a uni) we have a deafblindness course and I found https://mh.bmj.com/content/50/4/610 while in a deafblindness resource rabbithole.

Not necessarily for direct copying but to give you some ideas to consider. A dear blind friend of mine had some personalised tours in the USA and he's got some blogposts https://catchthesewords.com/hands-on-with-ancient-history-at-the-british-museum/ annoyingly I can't find Connor's video about his US trip museums which may be on the TikTok which I don't have a login for so can't scroll thru.

@DarkSheepArts So as others have said, ensure the standard labels/text is as clear/big as possible and well lit. I like the external booklet option in larger print as I might sit down and read that in a better lit area.

I should say I'm deaf so audio is useless to me, but valuable for many.

I love the idea of QR code to online version of info in a nice flexible format so people can then use their existing assistive tech to enable them to have access e.g. smartphone, or Braille device.

@DarkSheepArts I have vision issues related to vertigo, so technically my visual acuity is excellent (with glasses) but in practice it's very situational. I often find in museums that the labels/info text is too small or just hard to read in the lighting. I find spotlighting horrible cos it's not consistent and it'll white-out some stuff or be too bright while other stuff is too dim to see.

I work in general disability/accessibility and my advice would be 'as accessible as possible by design'

@NatalyaD

The QR code looks like a good option, and we can definitely have the external booklets.

I've got quotes from companies who do audio, but it's out of my price range at the moment.

@DarkSheepArts
VIsually impaired (keratoconus) and not totally blind speaking here.
Start by making sure any printed displays, labels, and explanations themselves are designed to maximize who can read them: good contrast, large & simple fonts - all the basic stuff of document accessibility.
For me, any of the "apps" stuff is a non-starter since I can't easily work most "just download this app" stuff because it's too small and not accessible itself. I'd never get the app to work.

@NatalyaD I get you with the spotlighting. I've inherited a horrible 90s spotlight system that I'm trying to get around. I'm hoping to install a system of LED panels to lift the shadows.

@DarkSheepArts Linking to an accessible companion guide on a site might be a better shout than braille. That would be easier to produce, easier to update, definitely cheaper to maintain and most importantly, it places the choice of how to consume that with each person who wants to read it. EG, I'm totally blind here, learned braille so young that I can't even remember not knowing it, but there are boatloads of blind/VI folk who lose sight later in life and never get that opportunity. IMO audio is a really nice to have extra if you can get it done within budget, but deafblind folk get the soggy end of the stick so often, I reckon I'd try to offset that a bit by commissioning a good writer over a sound designer if I were in your shoes.

BTW I live in London and my partner bloody loves a museum/exhibit. Would be happy to come and poke around ideas in progress. Holler whenever you've got something if that might help.

@DarkSheepArts Yeah, where funds are tight it can be trying to be as flexible as you can and getting best bang for your buck.

I've run grassroots stuff where I read out audio myself in addition to critical web text content to ensure no one had an excuse for not trying to engage with our event's code of conduct (which was a bit long but necessarily so).

I don't know what the legal licencing text-to-speech audio options are for a 'commercial' albeit small org.

@DarkSheepArts @sbourne I like the audio component when it’s available. Biltmore was cool, because they had this receiver into which you entered the number accompanying each exhibit and would hear an explanation about it. Braille is neat when they have it, but it takes longer to read and ou can sometimes have folk start to stack up behind you

@DarkSheepArts Yeah, often museums don't have much building control or it's not cheaply/easily fixable. Also most people seem hideously clueless about lighting, especially architects (not my fave species of professional).

Another issue can be that exhibits can't be lit for conservation reasons, although I know some museums will do bookable out-of-hours tours for blind/low vision people with temporary brighter lighting or touch-options under supervision (or a replica for touching).

@DarkSheepArts And again, if someone has the raw text in an easy to access way, then they can use their own device with whatever tech they prefer.

But I know not everyone does have/use tech but it is increasingly common and sometimes a cheap device can be a thing the museum hands out, like those audio tours (an area I'm deafishly ignorant of for obv reasons).

@NatalyaD

We've got decent touch options coming in, and some that already exist, but yeah - our lighting is awful. It was designed by cool 90s designers, and as such is absolutely terrible.

@NatalyaD

Interesting. That gives me an idea for some repurposing of old tech which we might be able to do.

@jmillerbiblio @sbourne

That's my next step after this - it's out of my price range at the moment, but we're going for some grants that might help.

@DarkSheepArts My phone. I already have it with me. Maybe scan a QR, it opens up to an accessible web page with info on, whether that be audio files the user presses play on, or written text which then is spoken via the screen-reader. If you go the latter route, then anyone who does use Braille and happens to have a display with them, such as deafblind can use that.
@jakobrosin thoughts on this? I know you've done similar things.

Question for #blind and partially sighted folk on the fediverse:

If you go to a museum or gallery, do you prefer braille or do you instead use a text to speech app?

(Or both, or something else)

I've got a bit of money to refurbish a small UK museum space with better provisions for Deaf and Blind folk, so I'm keen to know what will be the most useful.

Please Note: This is a question specifically for blind and partially sighted Fedi users, rather than fully sighted folk.

Question for #blind and partially sighted folk on the fediverse:

If you go to a museum or gallery, do you prefer braille or do you instead use a text to speech app?

(Or both, or something else)

I've got a bit of money to refurbish a small UK museum space with better provisions for Deaf and Blind folk, so I'm keen to know what will be the most useful.

Please Note: This is a question specifically for blind and partially sighted Fedi users, rather than fully sighted folk.