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Considerations For Designers

The ADA regulations, important as they are, are too general to address the core processes of exhibit design. The law simply states that public facilities, including museums, must be accessible to everyone. And it cites a few museum-specific architectural and communication-related regulations. Beyond that, you can assume that regulations regarding illumination, vertical and horizontal reach distances, under-counter knee clearances, etc apply to exhibit components as well as to banks, work spaces and public washrooms. Exhibit applications of access regulations are found in the general references cited below, in this site and in the "Accessible Practices" portion of the ASTC website. AAM’s publication "Everyone’s Welcome" is especially readable and relevant to exhibit issues.

Design of an activity-based exhibit area presents special challenges and requires a fresh look at the applicability of some ADA guidelines.

For starters, people need to be positioned correctly if they’re doing - as opposed to looking at - something. This means that designers have to consider the different space requirements of wheelchairs and scooters. (See component placement, below.) The ADA guidelines don’t go in that direction. They talk about minimum space around a display, not around an activity.

Exhibit layout

Path of travel

ADA regulations state that travel pathways must be 36 inches wide, and be free of immovable obstacles (Stools migrate, but can be pushed aside).

Approaching interactives

You need lots of room around exhibit components. Minimum specifications are 30"X48" on all viewing sides, and overlapping a 36"circulation route. See "Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Exhibition Design" pp 38,39 or "Everyone's Welcome: the Americans with Disabilities Act and Museums" p 64. Try the Useful Resources for links to their resources.

Component placement

Wheelchairs and even more so, scooters - need manuvering space to approach or leave an interactive. And those reqirements are different. Scooters are longer and narrower than wheelchairs and have lots of mechanism in front of the seat (like a bicycle). This configuration precludes a head-on approach. Scooter users need to approach from the side and either turn their upper bodies or swivel their seat. You need to allow enough space for a very close parallel parking job. In contrast, wheelchairs users need space to approach and use manipulatives head-on.

The challenge becomes much greater when the space is crowded with visitors. Being forced to back up in a crowd is no fun - for either the backer or the backed-into!

Plan for adequate room around components and avoid tucking them into a small cul-de sac. If you have any doubts, borrow a wheelchair and a scooter and try it out. You can use chairs, empty crates, etc to simulate the layout. Don’t rely on a "footprint" drawn on the floor. Finally - remember that this simulated space doesn’t have people in it.

Layouts that support blind visitors’ wayfinding

Our blind advisors have told us that they can use an exhibit far more easily if we group related components so that all are reachable with minimal walking.

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Safety

		ADA regulations maintain that overhangs between 27 and 80 inches high, extending more than 4 inches for wall mounts and 12 inches for freestanding units, pose a danger to people who can’t see them. Neither a long cane nor a guide dog is likely to detect the hazard.
An exhibit with an overhang projecting at head height has a protective skirt around its base to keep visually-impaired visitors from bumping into it.		On the other hand - wheelchair users need from 28" to 30" inches of clear under-counter knee space. We generally allow 28 inches of kneeroom under our interactives (The Juggling Act). Our visually impaired advisors who use long canes report no problems with that stretch of the access rule.Consult p 68 of "Everyone’s Welcome" for ADA regulations.

When exhibit components do pose a hazard to blind visitors, such as the two videos in the Messages exhibit, we build a guide dog and cane-detectable barrier around the offending component

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Wayfinding

Getting to and then getting around in an exhibit is a major problem for visually impaired visitors.

Navigational aids

• Texture cues on the floor (carpeting, rubber mats, bare floor)
• The audible equivalent of a visual "attract screen" has been suggested by our advisors for some computer driven interactives. For example, in Messages, an exhibit about human communication, an accessible collage self-portrait activity announces itself with a repeating message which says "Get The Picture - A collage making and collage interpreting activity. Push any button to begin.".
• Consistent signals - A one inch square button, placed on the left side of any exhibit unit, denotes an audio label.

examples of audio help placement in different exhibits

Do Smells Sell? in "Messages	The solar car pulley station in "Investigate!"
Smell Survey in "The Observatory"	Language To Go in "Messages"

Talking Signs

	We are experimenting with a "Talking Signs" infrared wayfinding system for visitors who are blind. You'll find more in the Technical Design section.
Talking Signs lobby kiosk

At the entrance to "Messages", an exhibit about human communication, a wayfinding kiosk helps visitors with visual impairments find their way around the exhibit. Users can access a tactile talking floorplan of Messages, or listen to a virtual audio tour of exhibit activities. It’s described in the Technical Design section.

Audio tours

Several institutions offer audio tours of portions of their facilities for visually impaired audiences. Look in the Technical Design and the Content sections for details.

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Lighting

People with limited vision need good lighting to avoid tripping over things. Deaf people also need adequate levels of frontal lighting to communicate via sign language and/or lip-reading. But (the juggling act again ...) sometimes conservation needs require that light levels be kept at a minimum; or the issue might be excessive heat generated by the lights. Explore the use of different light sources and non-reflective text surfaces. If possible, incorporate one small well-lighted area for ASL interpretation.

Contrast

Especially in dim light, furniture, walls and carpet must be in contrasting colors. Otherwise, they tend to blend together and create a tripping hazard for people with low vision. Many of these visitors also have a hard time with abrupt changes in light level.

Shadows and reflections

Glare off labels and glass cases is difficult for seated people and those with limited vision. Shadows and reflections caused by overhead lighting obscure artifacts and labels. These problems are magnified for wheelchair users and people with low vision. Borrow a wheelchair and solicit comments from a few people with visual impairment to check out your lighting arrangements.

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Signage and Labels

Placement:

Have those of you who use bifocals ever cursed the placement of a too-high label? Seated readers probably share your sentiments.

Contrast:

How about beige print on a mauve background? Or a background consisting of squiggly sperm cells - or sand - or white cumulus clouds in a deep blue sky? All these make for an illegible label - for anyone. Ditto for the shadows generated by text screened onto glass. If you are having trouble deciphering a label, think of the person with limited vision.

Font style:

Sans serif is ideal. Even more important is a typeface of uniform line weight. An advisor once commented that many non-uniform fonts make him see the letter "B" as the number "13".

Geneva, Helvetica and Arial are some fonts that people with limited vision find legible.

Font size:

The Museum uses a minimum of 24 point for component or display labels.

Greater viewing distances require larger type size. This table, reproduced from The Smithsonian Guidelines on Accessible Exhibition Design (pp21-29) summarizes the relationship between viewing distance and type size.

Both The Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Exhibition Design (p.21) and Everyone’s Welcome (p114) have comprehensive sections on label design.

The Lighthouse, Inc offers two very useful brochures, on color contrast and print legibility, via its website or mail. It's URL is: http://www.lighthouse.org/print_leg.htm; or request the Color Contrast and Print Legibility brochures from

The Lighthouse Inc.

111 East 59th Street;

New York, NY 10022

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Reach

Height and depth of components

To provide knee room for wheelchair users, our components are generally 28 inches high and at least 18 inches deep and 30 inches wide. We place controls (buttons, levers, etc) between four and eleven inches from the edge of the table. The four inch free space is to provide a hand rest for users with motor impairments. Other interactive elements, such as supply bins are placed within 10 inches, or are movable. See "The Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Exhibition Design" and "Everyone’s Welcome" on the Useful Resources for details .

Bins for solar car parts, in "Investigate!"

Furniture dimensions:

HOWEVER, (a "juggling act" issue) all this can change when the primary audience is considered. If the interactive is meant for little kids, you probably want child-scaled components, maybe 18 inches high. Wheelchair users would have to approach them from the side.

Ping Pong Probability		Which fish is more streamlined?

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Ease of Use

Easily manipulated buttons Amply spaced and large, possibly large enough to accommodate a simple graphic or text
	Large buttons on Diner exhibit

Other controls Microscope sample wheel: easily turned, with stops. Vertical posts don’t have to be grasped. They can be pushed to move the wheel along. This particular design could be improved by making the post a bit longer and maybe using a softer material.
	Sample wheel on a Wentzscope

Avoid wheels which are turned by placing a finger in a little depression. They’re elegant, but unusable for someone with limited motor control.

Touch screens have substantial limitations. Check out the Trace Center for more information. They require careful adaptation for use by blind visitors and are difficult, if not impossible for people with limited motor control of their hands and arms. If they must be used, be sure to incorporate a 4 inch clear area around the monitor, for visitors to steady a hand. "A Birds' World," a recently opened exhibit at the Museum, offers visitors a choice of touch screen or button mediated navigation.

Listening equipment: be aware that blind or physically disabled people may need both hands to manipulate or explore an exhibit element. If this applies to a component, plan for a non hand-held listening device.

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Designs that support the intended message - Intellectual Access

Audio

Increasingly, the Museum has been incorporating audio explanation and description into its exhibit development process. Not only do audio labels provide context (and therefore meaning) for blind visitors, they are also the preferred mode of getting information for many others as well.

Choices:

The theme messages of an exhibit are reiterated in a variety of ways - visual, aural, tactile, olfactory. We try to augment visual presentations with audio, and auditory presentations with visual cues such as video captions.

Design A Sign - a visual activity in "Messages"		Tactile elements in Natural Wonders - in "Investigate"		Tactile elements in Natural Wonders - in "Investigate"		Smell Survey in "The Observatory"

In fact, a main theme of the Messages exhibit is the myriad forms of human communication. For example, the "What’s The Message?" activity demonstrates how the same message (Fire!!) can be a smell message, a sound message and a visual message. "Words Plus" lets visitors play with their own facial and vocal expression, to change the meaning of their words.

What's The Message? in "Messages"		Words Plus - Are you Talking to Me? in "Messages"		Words Plus - Watch Yourself! in "Messages"

Consistency:

The placement size and shape of recurring exhibit elements is consistent. For example, in front of each New England Habitats diorama, there is something to touch, and, on identical consoles, a diorama-related odor on the left and an audio label on the right.

In all current exhibits, we’ve adopted the convention that a one inch square button, mounted lower left denotes an audio label. This type of button is used for nothing else.

This kind of consistency is helpful to visitors with visual and with cognitive impairments.

Beaver diorama		Deer diorama		Close-up of Do Smells Sell? Note audio buton and hearphone on left

Labels:

Position, lighting, contrast, size and style of print and background are mentioned above. Additionally, line length, clarity of language and incorporation of graphics are important for people with language deficits - due either to learning disability, deafness, or unfamiliarity with English. Also found useful by visually impaired evaluators of the "Secrets of Aging" Exhibit: Raised lettering in conjunction with audio labels

The label for Temperature Investigation in "Investigate" is short, simple and it incorporates graphics

Comfortable space

• Seating: Ample and dispersed seating, with backs and arms, is important - especially for older visitors and people with mobility impairments. Stools placed at interactives provide seating for users but can be moved aside for wheelchair users.
• Lighting: The space should be well lighted, with no tripping hazards and easily readable labels (see above).
• Noise: Audio labels and sound-based components provide access for blind/visually impaired visitors, but add to the ambient noise in an exhibit. Some ways of dealing with noise pollution are discussed in the Technical design "Juggling Act" section
• Layout: You need lots of room around exhibit components. Avoid tucking anything into a small cul de sac. To make it easier for blind visitors to find their way, group related components so that all are reachable with minimal walking. (See "Exhibit Layout")
• Deep carpet pile makes wheelchair travel very difficult. On the other hand - it’s a great sound absorber. We use low, dense-pile carpeting in most exhibit spaces (The Juggling Act).

A Juggling Act

The juggling act includes being mindful of peoples’ disparate and conflicting needs and making some conscious decisions in accommodating them.

A few examples:

Some interactives (e.g. microscopes) require close approach by users - ideally, head on. Wheelchair users typically need 28 - 30 inch knee clearance to belly up to an interactive. But according to ADA regulations that component is a potential hazard. It has to be 27 inches or lower to be detectable by long cane users. We build our components with 28 inches of clear knee space. The long cane users that we’ve consulted have no trouble with that stretching of the rule.

Ideally, an interactive should be 28 - 30 inches off the ground and approachable head-on. But suppose your exhibit is really meant for little kids. You probably want child-scaled components, maybe 18 inches high. Wheelchair users would have to approach them from the side.
	A child in a wheelchair alongside a child-scaled interactive

Reach and ease of operation are major issues for wheelchair users with limited upper body mobility. They need 27 - 28 inch knee clearance, a work surface no more than 30 - 31 inches high, and reachable, easy to manipulate buttons. That leaves very little leeway. The arcade buttons used by the Museum add to the dilemma. They are tough and easy to use but they extend some two inches below their mounting surface, so table tops have to be at least that deep. In Messages, an advisor with limited ability to lift his arms found it difficult to use many of the interactives, which had 28 inches of undercounter space, added to 4 or 5 inches of tabletop. One possible solution is to angle the button containing surface. Our advisor found that arrangement usable.

Deaf visitors rely on visual input to get information (and to have fun). Blind visitors find visual experiences useless. We offer choices for accessing the main message(s). Some visitors do some things, and some do others.

Noise

Messages is a prime example of a common exhibit problem: It’s noisy. Because we’ve made special efforts to include people with visual impairments, many activities are sound-based. The others have been made accessible by addition of audio labels. That adds up to eighteen blabbing exhibit components, with some music, animal sounds, and random electronic squawks thrown in for color. All this in a 1650 sq foot enclosed exhibit space with a terrazzo floor. Add twenty fifth graders and ...

Dome clutter in Messages. How many can you spot?

The space and the need for a sound-based approach are fixed constraints. To control the noise we used sound focusing dome speakers for general information and hand held "hearphones" for audio instructions specifically for blind and visually impaired visitors. In a few instances, sound is delivered by small speakers mounted on the component. Also, within the constraints of the exhibit plan, we positioned components to minimize sound interference. The results are acceptable, but could be improved upon. A pre-conference ASTC 2001 workshop on sound in exhibits offered some useful information on reduction of unwanted noise.

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