How would you describe a Turner to someone who can't see? How do you tell someone about colour when they may never have experienced it? These might seem like daunting tasks, but an increasing number of museum curators are taking them on through tailor-made events for blind and partially sighted people.
When the final phase of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in October last year, it focused minds on physical access to institutions. But since 1999 there has been a legal obligation on museums and galleries to make 'reasonable adjustments' to improve access to their services for people with disabilities.
In the words of the Art Through Touch organisation, which advises a range of UK museums and galleries on improving access for the visually impaired, people with disabilities have a 'right to art'.
But is it possible to provide access to collections for blind and partially sighted people in relation to the visual arts? Can initiatives in this area ever be more than a token effort?
Good work is being done, but there are also stories of museums and galleries that are only really interested in PR - of cosmetic changes and upside-down Braille. The people to ask are those who are blind and partially sighted themselves. What do they say about what really works (and what doesn't), and what do they think of what's on offer?
Talking images
Recent studies show there is a range of often quite subtle things museums can do for visually impaired people that can make the difference between a successful visit and a disastrous one.
Talking Images was a research project undertaken by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and the audio description service Vocaleyes, which works to give visually impaired people better access to the arts. Between 2001 and 2003, a major audit of museums, galleries and heritage sites was carried out throughout the UK.
Feedback was collated from visually impaired museum visitors, and an assessment made of the extent to which buildings, collections and services are accessible to them. This has now led to a series of specific recommendations for museums and galleries to improve their service provision.
Catherine Hillis, the arts and heritage officer at Talking Images, says: 'The goal for museums and galleries should be to work towards everything being accessible, not just special events that you need to sign up for in advance.'
She cites the Manchester City Art Gallery as an example of an institution in which curators work alongside audio describers in giving talks so that sighted people can get just as much as blind and partially sighted visitors from the same event.
Museums and galleries need to understand that the visually impaired people who make use of their services are extremely diverse, both in their degree of visual impairment and in terms of what they want. 'Some people go to events primarily for social reasons,' says Hillis.
'But institutions need to provide these people with a ladder of opportunity, so that they can take their interest and involvement as far as they like. This includes giving them the choice to carry out research in a museum or gallery - by providing them with screen readers, for example.'
Museums should also think about including more description in their audio guides of the spaces that exhibits are in. Hillis says that this is something that visually impaired people often raise with the RNIB.
'It's such a big part of the experience of being in a museum or gallery,' she says. And they should consider whether there really are good reasons for not touching objects. Touching original artefacts is usually taboo, but in reality 'they're not going to be pawed by thousands of people', says Hillis.
The key message from the Talking Images project is the need to consult with visually impaired people at all stages in the development of services. For Barry Ginley, the disability and access officer at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the failure to consult is what characterises many unsuccessful attempts to improve access.
'Things are improving, but there are still occasions when, as a visually impaired person myself, I come across what feels like tokenism,' Ginley says. 'The designers are clearly pleased with themselves, but in practical terms their work often leaves a lot to be desired.'
Creative curating
A number of recent shows have been imaginatively exhibited, with the needs of visually impaired visitors very much in mind. The British Museum's Mummy: The Inside Story exhibition is advertised in Braille, large print and audio flyers, which include important information on where the exhibition is located and how the rooms are arranged.
All written information in the show itself is in large print, which is easy to read. Gallery assistants are trained in how to guide visually impaired people, and a selection of replicas of objects in the exhibition is available to be touched (most without the need for prior booking).
The Shhh... show at the V&A was a good example of an event likely to appeal both to those who are visually impaired and those who are not. It was billed as an 'invisible exhibition', which took visitors on a 'sonic journey' through the museum. A group of artists and musicians created a series of soundscapes and audio responses to objects in the galleries that were triggered as visitors walked around.
Regular events at other institutions make use of the descriptive powers of the people running them. Jocelyn Clarke regularly gives the Close Up descriptive talks at Tate Britain. 'People often ask me how you might describe colour to someone who has never experienced it,' she says.
'Statistically, only a tiny minority of blind people have never seen, and so have no visual memory. But colour still means something to these people because of the way that it is used in language. The adjectives that are used along with colours - "icy" with "blue" for example - help link them to emotions, or to senses other than sight.'
Describers often have specially designed tools available to help them. The V&A has been organising handling sessions and talks for visually impaired people for 17 years. It has recently been nominated for an RNIB award for a book of raised tactile diagrams, depicting the ten most popular paintings in its collection, with different textures indicating variations in tone. Handling materials in past talks at Tate Britain have included large balls of fake elephant dung for a Chris Ofili picture.
How do some of these events work in practice? Close Up at Tate Britain in September 2004 was friendly and informal, with plenty of time allowed for questions and input from the people taking part. A wide range of support materials was available, including close-up prints of the painting under discussion, and text in large print and Braille.
The choice of picture was ambitious - a large Turner, with plenty of hidden detail. And the talk was recorded for those who couldn't make it - clearly there is quite a large community of people who take part in these events, but who aren't always able to attend. The talk appealed to those who are not visually impaired, as well as those who are.
The bottom line
So what influences museum administrators in deciding how much effort to devote to this area? What are the real obstacles to improving access? For Ginley at the V&A, much of the debate around this issue is inevitably to do with resources.
'Of course, many of the things that improve access for blind and partially sighted people have a cost attached,' he says. 'But if access is designed in from the beginning, the expense becomes minimal. Access for visually impaired people is often a lot cheaper than decision-makers think.'
According to Cassie Herschel-Shorland, the access coordinator at Tate Britain, the key is to make sure access issues are really understood by the senior staff at museums and galleries.
She says: 'Last summer, for the first time, budget-holders at Tate Britain were given specific training in access issues for visually impaired people, so that they can make provision for what can and can't be done when setting future budgets.'
It seems that providing museum access for visually impaired people is as much a question of understanding and will, as it is of resources. Tom White is partially sighted and a regular visitor to museums and galleries in London. According to him, many blind and partially sighted people have their own bugbears in terms of what makes it difficult for them to enjoy their visit.
'For some, sharp contrasts in lighting are hard to deal with,' he says. 'Other places rely too much on touch - you don't always want people grabbing your hand and getting you to feel something. But what I find most important is the attitude of staff - if you're genuinely welcomed, rather than just seen as a problem, it makes all the difference.'
When the final phase of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in October last year, it focused minds on physical access to institutions. But since 1999 there has been a legal obligation on museums and galleries to make 'reasonable adjustments' to improve access to their services for people with disabilities.
In the words of the Art Through Touch organisation, which advises a range of UK museums and galleries on improving access for the visually impaired, people with disabilities have a 'right to art'.
But is it possible to provide access to collections for blind and partially sighted people in relation to the visual arts? Can initiatives in this area ever be more than a token effort?
Good work is being done, but there are also stories of museums and galleries that are only really interested in PR - of cosmetic changes and upside-down Braille. The people to ask are those who are blind and partially sighted themselves. What do they say about what really works (and what doesn't), and what do they think of what's on offer?
Talking images
Recent studies show there is a range of often quite subtle things museums can do for visually impaired people that can make the difference between a successful visit and a disastrous one.
Talking Images was a research project undertaken by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and the audio description service Vocaleyes, which works to give visually impaired people better access to the arts. Between 2001 and 2003, a major audit of museums, galleries and heritage sites was carried out throughout the UK.
Feedback was collated from visually impaired museum visitors, and an assessment made of the extent to which buildings, collections and services are accessible to them. This has now led to a series of specific recommendations for museums and galleries to improve their service provision.
Catherine Hillis, the arts and heritage officer at Talking Images, says: 'The goal for museums and galleries should be to work towards everything being accessible, not just special events that you need to sign up for in advance.'
She cites the Manchester City Art Gallery as an example of an institution in which curators work alongside audio describers in giving talks so that sighted people can get just as much as blind and partially sighted visitors from the same event.
Museums and galleries need to understand that the visually impaired people who make use of their services are extremely diverse, both in their degree of visual impairment and in terms of what they want. 'Some people go to events primarily for social reasons,' says Hillis.
'But institutions need to provide these people with a ladder of opportunity, so that they can take their interest and involvement as far as they like. This includes giving them the choice to carry out research in a museum or gallery - by providing them with screen readers, for example.'
Museums should also think about including more description in their audio guides of the spaces that exhibits are in. Hillis says that this is something that visually impaired people often raise with the RNIB.
'It's such a big part of the experience of being in a museum or gallery,' she says. And they should consider whether there really are good reasons for not touching objects. Touching original artefacts is usually taboo, but in reality 'they're not going to be pawed by thousands of people', says Hillis.
The key message from the Talking Images project is the need to consult with visually impaired people at all stages in the development of services. For Barry Ginley, the disability and access officer at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the failure to consult is what characterises many unsuccessful attempts to improve access.
'Things are improving, but there are still occasions when, as a visually impaired person myself, I come across what feels like tokenism,' Ginley says. 'The designers are clearly pleased with themselves, but in practical terms their work often leaves a lot to be desired.'
Creative curating
A number of recent shows have been imaginatively exhibited, with the needs of visually impaired visitors very much in mind. The British Museum's Mummy: The Inside Story exhibition is advertised in Braille, large print and audio flyers, which include important information on where the exhibition is located and how the rooms are arranged.
All written information in the show itself is in large print, which is easy to read. Gallery assistants are trained in how to guide visually impaired people, and a selection of replicas of objects in the exhibition is available to be touched (most without the need for prior booking).
The Shhh... show at the V&A was a good example of an event likely to appeal both to those who are visually impaired and those who are not. It was billed as an 'invisible exhibition', which took visitors on a 'sonic journey' through the museum. A group of artists and musicians created a series of soundscapes and audio responses to objects in the galleries that were triggered as visitors walked around.
Regular events at other institutions make use of the descriptive powers of the people running them. Jocelyn Clarke regularly gives the Close Up descriptive talks at Tate Britain. 'People often ask me how you might describe colour to someone who has never experienced it,' she says.
'Statistically, only a tiny minority of blind people have never seen, and so have no visual memory. But colour still means something to these people because of the way that it is used in language. The adjectives that are used along with colours - "icy" with "blue" for example - help link them to emotions, or to senses other than sight.'
Describers often have specially designed tools available to help them. The V&A has been organising handling sessions and talks for visually impaired people for 17 years. It has recently been nominated for an RNIB award for a book of raised tactile diagrams, depicting the ten most popular paintings in its collection, with different textures indicating variations in tone. Handling materials in past talks at Tate Britain have included large balls of fake elephant dung for a Chris Ofili picture.
How do some of these events work in practice? Close Up at Tate Britain in September 2004 was friendly and informal, with plenty of time allowed for questions and input from the people taking part. A wide range of support materials was available, including close-up prints of the painting under discussion, and text in large print and Braille.
The choice of picture was ambitious - a large Turner, with plenty of hidden detail. And the talk was recorded for those who couldn't make it - clearly there is quite a large community of people who take part in these events, but who aren't always able to attend. The talk appealed to those who are not visually impaired, as well as those who are.
The bottom line
So what influences museum administrators in deciding how much effort to devote to this area? What are the real obstacles to improving access? For Ginley at the V&A, much of the debate around this issue is inevitably to do with resources.
'Of course, many of the things that improve access for blind and partially sighted people have a cost attached,' he says. 'But if access is designed in from the beginning, the expense becomes minimal. Access for visually impaired people is often a lot cheaper than decision-makers think.'
According to Cassie Herschel-Shorland, the access coordinator at Tate Britain, the key is to make sure access issues are really understood by the senior staff at museums and galleries.
She says: 'Last summer, for the first time, budget-holders at Tate Britain were given specific training in access issues for visually impaired people, so that they can make provision for what can and can't be done when setting future budgets.'
It seems that providing museum access for visually impaired people is as much a question of understanding and will, as it is of resources. Tom White is partially sighted and a regular visitor to museums and galleries in London. According to him, many blind and partially sighted people have their own bugbears in terms of what makes it difficult for them to enjoy their visit.
'For some, sharp contrasts in lighting are hard to deal with,' he says. 'Other places rely too much on touch - you don't always want people grabbing your hand and getting you to feel something. But what I find most important is the attitude of staff - if you're genuinely welcomed, rather than just seen as a problem, it makes all the difference.'
