Exhibit Design Relating to Low Vision and Blindness Summary Report

Future Research Needs

Funding and budgetary considerations are and will continue to present issues in providing meaningful and accessible interpretive experiences to people with disabilities. One recurring question during these projects has been whether the creation of access services can be shared across cultural institutions as a way of addressing the limited resources of each institution. Larry Goldberg of the National Center for Accessible Media proposed investigating the creation of a “Museum Accessibility Network” to determine whether a group of cultural institutions that create and use accessibility services could be utilized to share those resources developed to enhance access (i.e., descriptions, captions, sign language) not only in their own individual programs, but also to foster the use of such services for exhibits which tour the country. The investigation should include how to reduce duplication of accessibility services if initial work by one institution can be effectively utilized at another; as well as whether costs for creation of access services can also be shared across such a network of institutions (Goldberg, 2010, p.9).

Research should identify current and future efforts to integrate universal design into exhibit planning. Examination of existing and emerging exhibit design strategies and collaborations that utilize universal design principles should be explored with technical evaluations conducted of select approaches. Publication of the outcomes of developed strategies can promote further understanding of how accessibility and universal design can be incorporated into exhibit design for the cultural institutions and park sites.

“Research should identify and develop effective and practical technology-based methods to further equal access to exhibits, collections tours, live presentations, events, performances, and multimedia. One development focus should be on the creation of a software suite of authoring tools that cultural institutions can use to create industry-standard formatted files for timed text, audio, and video to create captions, descriptions or sign language files. Such software tools can enable museums to enhance the accessibility of static exhibits, guided audio or live tours, live performances, films, and live events by creating flexible, non-proprietary multi-lingual files which can be used with a wide range of mobile and fixed platforms and technologies. Such proposed software must be grounded in well-documented user needs and should build capacity within resource-constrained cultural institutions to cost-effectively address the needs of people with sensory disabilities at museums, galleries, visitor centers, historic sites, and science centers all over the country (Goldberg, 2010, p. 9).