The Visual Language of Art: Universal Design approaches to Museum Publications and InterpretationRebecca McGinnis, Access Coordinator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA Cyrille Gouyette, Service culturel, Musee du Louvre, France Hoelle Corvest, La Cite des Sciences et e l'industrie, France Ileana Sanchez, Director, Creativo Creativo Inc., USA Art museums produce exhibition catalogues and other publications relating to their collections, in order to inform and engage their audiences beyond the walls of the museum. Although many of these publications are visually attractive and informative to certain types of audience, by design and content, they also exclude many people. There are a number of approaches to making print-based publications universally accessible, including the incorporation of tactile pictures and braille, and the use of complementary CD-ROMs or other audio output. Recent examples of such innovative publications from art museums are "un autre regard," a series of integrated print and CD-ROM publications from the Musée du Louvre, utilizing large print, braille, tactile pictures. and audio; and Art and the Alphabet: A Tactile Experience, a children's book incorporating braille, large print, and tactile line drawings superimposed over high-quality color reproductions of works of art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collections. A series of books on scientific themes from La Cité des Sciences et de l'industrie, including Formes de l'Univers, Les procréations, and Des dessins pour construire, also demonstrate a multi-sensory, inclusive approach to museum publications. Tactile pictures or diagrams have been used since the seventeenth century or even earlier, to make untouchable aspects of the environment comprehensible to people with little or no sight. However, it is only recently that technological and printing developments and research into the nature of tactile perception, have advanced to the point at which books with understandable tactile pictures can be produced in large quantities at non-prohibitive cost. It is also now understood that everyone can benefit from tactile experiences, not only those who cannot see. The books mentioned above utilize a tactile silkscreen printing technique that is becoming more widely available across the world. This technique enables the production of books that can be used by all, together, with print and braille, tactile and visual pictures. They also demonstrate that such books can be not only universally designed and accessible, but beautiful both visually and tactually. Currently, braille books rarely have illustrations, which are so important to a child's development, whether visual or tactile. With Art and the Alphabet, the Metropolitan Museum strives to change this situation, by offering an art book for all, as well as a pedagogical tool for teaching children with visual impairments. Working with designers and printers in Puerto Rico, the Met has produced a book combining introductory braille with tactile pictures and art, for the first time for young braille learners. The authors hope that this book will also help to re-introduce sighted people to their sense of touch. It is a book for sighted and visually impaired people alike to use, and to share. "Un autre regard" from the Musée du Louvre employs the same silkscreen technique to create tactile line drawings. But in this case, the tactile drawings bring to life ancient writing, Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, which can be felt directly, without the interpretation and simplification needed to make a painting accessible through touch. The accompanying CD-ROM provides the story of these writing systems. The series from La Cité des Sciences offers a range of subjects to readers of all ages, and all abilities. Through touch, sight, and even activities with the building blocks that accompany Des dessins pour construire, everyone can enjoy and learn using their preferred learning style. These are only a few examples of what museums can create to make their collections universally accessible outside their walls. The technologies and psychological research that inform the production of these products are still developing. It is vital to the future of such universally designed books that museums and other publishers keep abreast of these developments, and even lead the way, as they are now doing. Other issues, such as the best methods of dissemination for these multi-sensory books, and how to reduce cost to make them more widely available throughout the world, still need much consideration. |