AV Interpretation and Accessibility
The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in Article 27.1 that “Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”
Museums and heritage sites are certainly a central point of our cultural life, they also offer visitors some of the most engaging, informative and fun days out. Key to these sites is the use of interpretation, both traditional but also more modern digital techniques. So when it comes to AV how do we ensure that people of all abilities can partake?
Heavy Duty Handset - Hearing Loop
Audio is one of the most effective tools of digital interpretation, you won’t visit many museums that don’t leverage audio in some way to help share their story. This is why our Heavy Duty Handsets are so popular, providing high quality personal audio with great dynamic range built into a high-grade impact-resistant plastic casing. Hang it on its magnetic hanger when not in use and rest assured of their longevity thanks to the armoured cable.
In 2010, the UK introduced the Equality Act, as part of this act businesses and other organisations are required to provide hearing loop systems for their service users. The Heavy Duty Handset HL allows just that.
The Hearing Loop variant takes the HDH and makes it accessible to visitors who require a hearing aid, what’s more the magnetic hanger has been designed to offer just enough ‘pull’ to keep the HDH stored safely when not in use, but incredibly easy to pull away when required. Making the HDH HL an incredibly accessible headphone.
The inbuilt T-Coil system coupled with a Nominal Impedance of 16 ohms provides full compatibility with hearing aids (and still functions as a standard headphone), bringing effective audio interpretation to a much wider audience.
Proximity / Wave Sensor
The Proximity Sensor is an all-in-one infrared transmitter and receiver. It detects when a hand or an object passes within range and can be used to trigger audio or video content when used alongside a compatible media player.
Easy to install into any panel or tabletop and compatible with our range of SoundClip and VideoClip devices, the Wave Sensor offers a detection range adjustable between 3-80cm. There’s an abundance of creative possibilities that open up when you can trigger content in ways beyond the traditional button.
This translates to far greater accessibility for visitors, those with hand-eye co-ordination disorders such as Dyspraxia and Optic Ataxia needn’t worry about pressing what are often small buttons, instead simply waving a body part within range of the sensor can trigger content.
Free-Standing Kiosk
The Free-Standing Kiosk combines uncompromising technical performance with elegant design and style to provide stand-alone, multi touch interactivity to visitors on demand.
With Capacitive touch technology and a built-in i7 processor, this is the perfect interactive PC for touchscreen software such as our Lightbox 3 Multi-App Package and can be additionally purchased with the previously mentioned Hearing Loop Heavy Duty Handsets.
Recently we published a blog post discussing interpretive design with wheelchair accessibility accounted for. The average person in a wheelchair can reach around 635mm from their body easily.
This is something we’ve specifically designed our freestanding touchscreen kiosks to consider, allowing wheelchair users to get close enough to the base of the unit and constructing them at such a height that makes it possible for the screen to be easily reached.
Solar Audio Post
The Solar Audio Post is our entirely solar powered (which you probably guessed given the name) outdoor audio device.
Outdoor interpretation for the most part consists of traditional signage, something that may not be particularly useful to visitors with poor eyesight or even those unable to read.
This is where audio can be so powerful, although this is something that’s been historically difficult to bring outdoors. Which is what makes the Solar Audio Post so impactful.
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The Solar Audio Post is easily programmed and updated with a USB dongle. The 2 buttons can play a single track on each, or up to 3 tracks sequentially while the button plate can be engraved to share logos / tracklists and simple graphical instructions.
You can read about a shortened Solar Post that was used at Echo River Springs Trial specifically with accessibility in mind.
Something For Everyone!
There’s no excuse for limiting access given the options available. Simple alterations, adaptations and planning can make almost any visitor attraction accessible to all. It’s important to remember that audiences can be as diverse and interesting as the exhibits themselves.
Thanks for reading and please check out our portfolio to see some great examples of our work.
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