Image of a woman who is visually impared touching a tactile otter display

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the tactile otter exhibit.

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Image of a woman who is visually impared touching a tactile sea turtle exhibit

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the tactile sea turtle exhibit.

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Image of a man who is visually impared touching a tactile reef exhibit

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the tactile reef exhibit.

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Image of a man who is visually impared interacting with the touch pool exhibit

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the touch pool.

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Image of an affinity diagram on Stormboard

Affinity Diagramming

Used Stormboard to create an affinity diagram from our observations.

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Problem Space

  • Many museums are inaccessible for people with disabilities
  • Exhibitions are designed for sighted visitors
  • There is a lack of braille information/audio descriptions at aquariums
  • Research on accessibility in aquariums is limited

Methods

Literature Review

Competitive Analysis

Interviews

Contextual Inquiry

Observations

Accessibility Evaluation

Findings

  • Museum staff were not knowledgeable of assistive technology, and lacked exposure to people with disabilities
  • Audio descriptions keep visitors engaged and are enjoyable
  • Current AD setup at Shedd Aquarium is effective
  • In exhibit design sounds create a sense of space
  • Information provided by signage is not accessible for people who are visually disabled
  • Tactile elements help learning and knowledge retention

Recommendations

  • Provide Assitive Technology (AT) training, and contact with people with disabilities for staff
  • Provide domain training for Audio Describers
  • Conduct advanced research on exhibits
  • Audio Describers should use a general to specific approach. Less is more
  • Design exhibits with multi-modal sensory information
  • Use braille for brief text information and AD for longer text information

Get in Touch

Please note only a subset of my work can be displayed online due to NDA's. Feel free to reach out to me regarding work opportunities. You may also find me on LinkedIn.