Making museums accessivle for visually impaired children

Abstract

To investigate what could be done to improve accessibility of museums in Thailand for visually impaired children, so that they can be used as supporting learning venues given the restricted academic resources available in the country. The study seeks to discover fundamental characteristics of accessible museums corresponding to the Thai visually impaired children’s needs, using international visually impaired organizations’ recommendations on physical and intellectual characteristics facilitating visually impaired people as guidelines. Ten field researches were performed in four museums with eight visually impaired young volunteers. The four museums varying in their collections and the way they exhibit their collections are Bangkokian Museum, Museum of Siam, Bangkok Children Discovery Museum and Snake Farm. Divided into small groups, each group was taken to three different museums. Observation, structured and unstructured interviews were conducted before, during and after the field research to gather their opinions, observe their actual practices, and cross-examine if the two are in line with each other. The study finds the participants’ visual conditions, way of life, and traveling behaviors fundamentally influence their views toward the concept of accessibility. Touch and hearing are established as the core elements of intellectual access, and safety attributes are identified as most significant to physical access. Having taken all circumstances into account, the study eventually suggests that guides and docents be the key in making a museum accessible for visually impaired children.