Designing technologies for museums: accessibility and participation issues

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to report the findings of a systematized literature review focusing on participatory research and accessibly in the context of assistive technologies, developed for use within museums by people with sensory impairments or a learning disability. The extent and nature of participatory research that occurs within the creation of technologies to facilitate accessible museum experiences is uncertain, and this is therefore a focus of this paper. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a systematized literature review and subsequent thematic analysis. Findings A screening of 294 research papers produced 8 papers for analysis in detail. A thematic analysis identified that the concept of accessibly has nuanced meanings, underpinned by social values; the attractiveness of a technology is important in supporting real-life usability; and that the conceptualization of participation should extend beyond the end users. Social implications The argument is made that increasing the participation of people with sensory impairments and learning disabilities in the research process will benefit the design of technologies that facilitate accessibility for these groups. Originality/value An original notion of participation has emerged from this review. It includes the participation and goals of disabled people but has expanded the concept to encompass museum personnel and indeed the physical and social spaces of the museums and heritage sites themselves. This constructs a broad of participation, with different aspects being reflected across the review’s research papers.

Enhancing museums' attractiveness through digitization: An investigation of Italian medium and large‐sized museums and cultural institutions

“…On the other hand, outward-oriented digitization is directed at enriching the museums' service offering (Palumbo et al, 2021) through a socio-technical and human-centred design of environments and activities (Dugdale et al, 2020). The adoption of an enabling approach in implementing digitization paves the way for an improvement of the accessibility to the cultural heritage and enacts a greater participation of relevant constituencies to value co-creation, which are conducive to increased OA (Garcia Carrizosa et al, 2020).…”

“…On the other hand, outward‐oriented digitization is directed at enriching the museums' service offering (Palumbo et al, 2021) through a socio‐technical and human‐centred design of environments and activities (Dugdale et al, 2020). The adoption of an enabling approach in implementing digitization paves the way for an improvement of the accessibility to the cultural heritage and enacts a greater participation of relevant constituencies to value co‐creation, which are conducive to increased OA (Garcia Carrizosa et al, 2020). Furthermore, digitization augments the museums and cultural institutions' ability to merge their educational and transformational purposes with entertainment activities: this prompts richer and more meaningful exchanges with visitors (Pietroni, 2019) and improves the organizational appeal to current and prospective customers (Kargas et al, 2020).…”

Building an inclusive botany: The “radicle” dream

“…Exhibits can be modified to be viewed with touch through 3D printing, and museum audio can be amplified with Assisted Listening Devices (Nolan, 2016). Innovative technologies have been implemented to help people with sensory impairments and learning disabilities access museums as well, including multisensory artwork and augmented reality applications (Garcia Carrizosa et al, 2020). Yet, the research and collections side (usually not accessible to the public) largely lags in creating inclusive, all‐accessible spaces (Brown & Leigh, 2018, 2020).…”

Towards a More Inclusive Museum: Developing Multi-Sensory Approaches to the Visual Arts for Visually Impaired Audiences

“…key priority in developing assistive technologies is to capitalize on participatory research to facilitate accessible museum experiences for disabled visitors(Garcia Carrizosa et al 2020). Such initiatives can include the use of Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) to generate multi-sensory experiences that encourage the inclusion of visitors with cognitive and sensory disabilities (Llamazares de Prado and Arias Gago 2021).…”