Slide 1
Hello, welcome to the Accessibility Guidelines for NYU Library Galleries group. This is our midterm presentation on our project updates so far.
Slide 2
Overall, our team aims to expand on the accessibility services that NYU provides by creating digital and physical guidelines for NYU Library Galleries. By being mindful of the interpretation challenges that may come with experiencing various forms of art, our guidelines serve as a resource for gallery designers and curators to refer to prior to their installation. But despite working primarily with Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, our guidelines should reflect universal usability for all NYU affiliated galleries.
Slide 3
My name is Carmi Gonzales and my focus on our project is the guidelines for the physical space of the galleries. And so my goal is to create physical guidelines for the galleries that would be accessible through Google Docs to serve as a resource for gallery designers and curators to refer to prior to their installation.
And populations that are impacted by interpretation challenges are individuals that have impairments in the following areas: audio, visual, perceptual, language, cognitive, and memory. And so for an example of what perceptual impairments may look like is difficulty in sorting the foreground from the background, or difficulty in distinguishing relative distances between objects. So one way that visitors can be accommodated by galleries using guidelines is placing items in front of simple backdrops to reduce the amount of visual clutter.
Slide 4
My accomplishments thus far is narrowing down the topics that I want to address in the guidelines. And so there are 11 topics so far, which are exhibition content, items that are mounted on the wall, items that are in cases, QR code placements, label information and design, audiovisual and interactives, circulation route, furniture, color, lightning, and public events in the galleries.
Slide 5
In the following slides will be examples of interpretation challenges that would be addressed in our physical guidelines after having a tour of the galleries at the Bobst Library.
Slide 6
So this is an audio interactive that allows users in the gallery to listen to a playlist of songs that were exhibited through a nearby speaker. However, a QR code and step by step instructions would be really beneficial for visitors as to access the songs in a different modality such as their phones and to have instructions on how to navigate themselves using this interactive.
Slide 7
Here’s another example of items that are mounted on the wall and a casing for objects. And so our guidelines will provide guidelines such as the the maximum height of the top of the casing, as well as the maximum height for the labels on the walls so that they are readily visible for all users.
Slide 8
So my final goals for the end of the semester are to elaborate on the 11 topics that will be addressed, create a page of definitions that address the different impairments that some visitors may have, and to create a quick checklist at the end of the guidelines as a final step for gallery designers and curators.
Slide 9
Here are some of our challenges up to this point, which is addressing as many interpretation challenges as possible within our scope of practice and within the time that we have, as well as being cohesive with NYU’s typefaces and themes.
Slide 10
So, some questions for feedback: What are some interpretation challenges you or someone you know have encountered while navigating a gallery? What are other considerations we should implement into our guidelines?