Goal 3.1 – Visually Impaired Working Group Results

As a result of the Seeing Without Sight project, the Museum already had a strong network in place when the Inclusive Museum project commenced, enabling this working group to be established with relative ease.

Setting up the Group

Four Seeing Without Sight co-creators joined the Visually Impaired Persons Working Group. Some new members were also located through Vision Ireland’s Mid-West Advocacy Network, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (Limerick) and Disability Services at the University of Limerick. Arts & Disability Ireland and Hunt Museum’s social media channels, along with word of mouth, also helped us to locate new members.

Initial meetings in December 2023 and January 2024 took place online and the first in-person meeting took place in February. In between these monthly meetings, most members of the group also attended the Museum for audio description co-creation workshops with museum volunteers.

Visually Impaired Working Group members and museum volunteers during a meeting. They sit at a very long table. Behind them is a tv screen displaying the meeting agenda.
Inclusive Museums Visually Impaired Working Group

The Main Activities of this Working Group

  • Trialing the museum’s Navilens app based navigational system and providing recommendations for its improvement
  • Advising on lighting solutions to provide more even light in display cases, removing shadows, glare and reflection
  • Working with Collections to improve the format used for object labels making information more accessible
  • Investigating underfoot tactile surfaces to support wayfinding and to increase safety
  • Collaboration with the Autistic Persons Working Group to develop the Accommodation Station, located in the Museum Reception area
  • Delivering new audio description content on Permanent Collection objects supported by Hunt Museum docent volunteers.
  • Delivery of a live audio describe tour for the visually impaired community during Heritage Week 2024
  • Co-creation of accessibility resources for the museum’s Visitor Accessibility webpage
  • Co-creation of text based maps for the main spaces in the Museum
  • Co-production of disability access and inclusion video based digital resources for other museums, with Hunt Museum staff
Above Video: working group member trials the Museum’s Navilens system using her mobile phone
Two people stand at the top of a set of stairs. One person with a cane uses it to test feedback from tactile surface safety options designed to let a blind/visusally impaired person know that they are approaching steps.

Above Image: Working Group members test stairs hazard tactile floor samples with a white cane

Visually impaired woman wearing tinted glasses uses her fingers to read the detail of a carved ivory plaque from the museum's Collection. To her left sits another woman who is reading a description of the object to the other woman.

Above image: Working group member examines an ivory carved plaque through touch interpretation during an audio description workshop

Results

  • Membership of six persons in this working group was achieved
  • Four co-produced video based digital resources delivered
  • Report with member’s recommendations for Navilens supplied to the museum’s Collections team. These will be implement in Q1 2025
  • More than 14 co-creation audio description workshops were delivered enabling AD texts for 10 individual objects to be produced. One new audio description recording was produced and more will be recorded early in 2025
  • Step edging safety solution for main staircases in museum was identified but additional funding is required to install it. A cheap interim solution is currently being identified.
Four people sit around a big wooden table in a library setting with big cabinets of books. This includes who sit at the far side of the table facing the viewer and one male whose side profile is only visible. He wears dark sunglasses. He has a long white sheet in front of him on the table. It runs horizontally. On it is object label text for a number of objects. He uses his phone to magnify the this information
Members with Karen Wilson, Head of Collections & Interpretation, working on A new accessible Label Template design

Challenges encountered

Retaining membership in this working group was not without its challenges.

  • Traveling to the Museum posed a considerable challenge for some members. To mitigate this, funding was used to provide taxi transportation for some members
  • Ill health also proved to be a significant barrier to participation and despite providing options to attend meetings remotely, some members still had to withdraw from the project on health grounds
  • Indeed, ill health also prevented a number of people from joining the project at all

Accessibility Toolbar