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

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the tactile otter exhibit.

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

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the tactile sea turtle exhibit.

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

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the tactile reef exhibit.

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

Contextual Inquiry

Observing participant at the touch pool.

  • Enlarge
Image of an affinity diagram on Stormboard

Affinity Diagramming

Used Stormboard to create an affinity diagram from our observations.

  • Enlarge

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

Feel free to reach out to me regarding work opportunities. You may also find me on LinkedIn.