Abstract

5,000 word double peer-reviewed conference paper.

Abstract:
Visually impairment people often visit exhibitions and museums in the UK. Older people are increasingly likely to experience sight loss and they are the fastest growing visitor group to UK museums and galleries. They favour regional and local venues. Museums are beginning to incorporate open-accessible facilities, but multi-sensory approaches tend to be small additions rather than a central feature. More could be achieved if curators built inclusive intellectual access for this visitor group into their exhibitions. This participatory design research project explores how the National Centre for Craft & Design (Sleaford, UK) can cost effectively design and curate non-permanent exhibitions that bring outstanding intellectual access to visitors with sight loss. This involved exploring the following research question: How can co-creation processes that involves blind and partially participants effectively facilitate the cross transfer of experience and skills to generate valid information?