This document summarizes a panel discussion on using mobile technology to radically change the museum visit experience for accessibility. The panelists discussed why mobile is important for accessibility, considerations for the museum visit, features of commercial mobile devices and apps, universal design principles, and when mobile may or may not be the best solution. They provided examples from research and case studies on developing mobile experiences with accessibility in mind.

1. Accessibility and Mobile: Radically Changing the Museum Visit
SOFIE ANDERSEN, ANNIE LEIST, SINA BAHRAM & ANNA LINDGREN- STREICHER
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2. Panelists
Annie Leist, Special Projects Lead, Art Beyond Sight & Visual Artist
@artaccessannie @ArtByndSight
Sina Bahram, President, Prime Access Consulting
@SinaBahram
Anna Lindgren-Streicher, Manager Research & Evaluation, Boston
Museum of Science
@astreichs
Sofie Andersen, Sr Digital Media Strategist, Antenna Lab
@sofieny @antenna_lab
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3. What we’ll be considering today
•Why mobile?
•Considerations for the museum visit.
•Features of commercial devices & apps.
•Universal Design.
•When mobile is and isn’t the answer.
•Recent research & best practices.
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4. Its about the journey –
not the destination
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5. Arriving at the a-ha moment
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6. Factors Driving Accessibility – Human Rights
Human disability - “an umbrella term covering impairments, activity limitations
and participation restrictions.” WHO (World Health Organization)
>>Sources: IBM2014 Trends Report and World Health Report
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7. Factors Driving Accessibility - Population
• 18.7% of us in US are disabled.
• 50% over 65s are considered disabled.
• Majority (71%) have ‘invisible’ disabilities - RSI, cognitive and learning.
• 85% of us can have ‘situational disability’.
• Museums - challenging environments for everyone eg. spaces, exterior
and interior environmental factors, ambient noise, dispersed
information.
» Sources, US 2010 Census, Gartner Market Trends, Andrew Johnson 2013, and “Global
Economics of Disability 2013”
» Additional research informed by Antenna & ABS Mobile Access Provisions Surveys 2014.
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8. Factors Driving Accessibility - Legislation
 UN CRPD (Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
 Section 508 - Standards are evolving for web access
 ADA (1990) and Telecommunications (1996) legislation for access to
museums
 Web Content Accessibility (WC3) WCAG. 2.0 – the web needs
accessible content and user agents, including AT and AT authoring
tools.
 WC3 Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0
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9. Factors Driving Accessibility: Tech Industry
•Corporations focusing on software and devices.
•IBMs Ability Labs (MyNYC App), Apple, Yahoo, Facebook etc.
•iOS & Android native and 3rd party assistive tech (AT) functions.
•BBC mobile design guidelines.
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11. Factors Driving Accessibility - ROI
Measurable Audiences - corporate & non-profit
responsibility can align with ROI.
PWDs account for $247 billion US market –
almost 1 in 5 people.
Access to funding opportunities.
Circle of potential engagement – family and
friends critical for museum visits.
» Sources: “Global Economics of Disability 2013 Report” & US Census:
Americans with Disabilities 2002. Mobile and Museums 2013 Survey –
identification of visitor engagement and attracting new visitors as top
museum priorities
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12. Discovery Phase: Audience Needs
How important is color contrast?
91% say very or somewhat
>>Source: WebAim Survey Low Vision Survey March 2013, 216 respondents, not 100%
answered all questions, all moderate to low vision
61% use accessibility
settings/software
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13. IBMs Market Analysis- Accessibility Features
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14. Discovery Phase: Research Collaboration
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15. Annie Leist
Annie Leist, Special Projects Lead, Art Beyond Sight & Visual Artist
@artaccessannie @ArtByndSight
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16. Who am I anyway?
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• Visual artist and lover of museums and galleries
• Special Projects Lead at Art Beyond Sight
‒ ABS is a New York-based nonprofit focused on helping make art and culture
accessible to people of all abilities
‒ Part of my role is doing consulting and training about disability awareness
and best practices around accessibility in museums and other organizations
• Shameless gadget junkie
• Member of audience with access needs
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17. Online survey
In 2014, Art Beyond Sight and Antenna International hosted three
online surveys to explore:
• How are people with disabilities using smartphones in their
everyday lives?
• What are their needs in museums?
• How are museums currently using mobile technologies?
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18. About the Art Beyond Sight/Antenna Lab
project
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• Three surveys online from January through June 2014
• Over 100 responses
‒ 61 people with disabilities
‒ 44 cultural institutions
‒ 9 access organizations
• Most individual participants self-identified as people who are
blind or have low vision
• Percentages in survey results are based on how many people
answered each question, not on total participants, as not every
question was answered by every participant.
• Focus groups with people who are blind or have low vision
conducted in June 2014
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19. People with disabilities at museums
• They’re coming!
‒ 26% at least once a month
‒ 42% at least once a year
• They’re staying!
‒ 68% spend 1-2 hours or longer
‒ …and they do this regularly
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20. What’s challenging for visitors with disabilities?
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• Dispersed information
• Ambient noise
• Exterior locations
• Complex spaces
• Busy environments
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21. Smartphones and everyday life
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• Mobile device ownership by people with disabilities aligns with
general population
• Of our survey respondents…
‒ 60% own iPhones
‒ 31% own Androids
‒ 25% own iPads
• Level of comfort with technology
‒ 56% very comfortable
‒ 33% mostly comfortable
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22. Accessibility capabilities of mobile technology
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• System screen readers (VoiceOver in iOS)
• Text-to-speech
• Magnification and zoom
• Other visual interface customization (e.g., inverted colors)
• Adjustable font sizing
• Hearing aid support
• Limitable access to onscreen elements
• Alternative input methods and devices
• Internal sensors and wireless connectivity, geolocation
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23. Content developed for accessibility purposes
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• Verbal description
‒ Audio tracks
‒ Description of video
• Transcripts of audio
• Captioning of video
• Content translated into sign language
• Multi-sensory experiences
• User interface design choices
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24. Things to consider…
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• What platform will we use?
• Visitor’s device or our device? Or both?
• Mobile-friendly website, web app, or app app?
• Use built-in features or code them ourselves?
• In-house or external vendor?
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25. The MFA Boston Multimedia Guide
A case study of one museum’s
mobile technology solution
• In 2010, transitioned from
audio guide to multimedia
guide
• Chose to design proprietary
app only available on their
devices (iPod touches in
security cases)
• Content created in-house
• Accessibility considered from
outset
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26. What’s on the MFA guide?
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Emphasis on choice for people with disabilities
• Verbal description of objects – will soon be available for every
stop
• Highlights tour offered in multiple languages including American
Sign Language
• Text transcripts of audio for every stop
• Captioned video
• Compatibility with T-coil hearing aid technology
• Selection of guides available with tactile dot on screen and
VoiceOver screen reader activated
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27. Design with user in mind: ASL videos
• ASL videos for
every object on
MFA’s Highlights
tour, like other
languages
• Vertical
orientation, no
captioning, no
image of artwork
• Signers were
existing MFA ASL
guides
• Team of people
reviews each video
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28. Other choices for ASL design
• Translating to American Sign
Language is an art, not a
science
• Sign languages are not static
• Consider screen size and
orientation
• Proper names and jargon must
be spelled out; this can
increase length of video,
captions are option too
• Do not neglect your deaf or
hard-of-hearing audiences
who do not sign
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29. How else to think about audience?
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• Define your audiences
• Create user personas early in the process
• Remember that abilities change as conditions or environments
change
• Discover in-house expertise, AND seek knowledgeable outside
advisors
• Seek feedback and perform user testing throughout
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30. The real design impact of user personas
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Antenna International and Spaulding
Rehabilitation Hospital

31. Experience design takeaways
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• One size does not fit all
‒ For museums
‒ For content types
‒ For people with disabilities
• Hybrid experiences – marry digital with analogue
• Smartphones and handheld mobile may not be the best solution
– or even a possible solution
• Consider how successful design with accessibility in mind affects
all audiences
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32. Sina Bahram
President, Prime Access Consulting @SinaBahram
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33. “When we work on
making our devices
accessible by the blind, I
don’t consider the
bloody ROI”
Tim Cook, Apple CEO
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34. Mobile Accessibility
• Touch offers unique advantages
• Facilitates eyes-free exploration of spatial layout
• Facilitates collaboration between sighted and eyes-free users
• Relies on concept of an access overlay
@SinaBahram
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35. What Is An Access Overlay?
• Invisible software layer that intercepts touch events
• Provides explore functionality
• Responds to particular gestures
• Allows native gestures to still be performed (usually with small
modification)
@SinaBahram
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36. Tips and Tricks
•Be aware of platform specific accessibility offerings
•Label your controls/content
•Provide additional information, via hints, when appropriate
•Use native controls whenever possible
•Use the appropriate control/widget for the job
•Test your app the way your users will use it
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37. Going the extra mile
•Be aware of accessibility specific gestures/actions
•Semantic mark up matters
•Grouping of controls and flow matter a lot
•Provide multiple ways to do something
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38. Demo of Voice Over and iOS
@SinaBahram
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39. Device Accessibility Features
• Voiceover
• Zoom
• Guided Access
• Hearing Aid Support
• Inverted Mode
• Assistive Touch
• Switch Control
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40. 1. Equitable Use
Equitable use: Can visitors with
different functional limitations
get a similar, or equitable,
experience?
@SinaBahram
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41. 2. Flexibility in Use
Can visitors interact with the
information in a variety of
different ways?
@SinaBahram
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42. 3. Simple and Intuitive Use
Can visitors with different
experience or knowledge benefit
from the information being
presented?
@SinaBahram
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43. 4. Perceptible Information
Can visitors access and interact
with the information being
presented, independent of a
sensory disability and
disturbances in the
environment?
@SinaBahram
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44. 5. Tolerance for Error
Can visitors always return to a
consistent, known starting point
so that, for example, they don’t
cause systems to crash or
behave unexpectedly, regardless
of the actions they take?
@SinaBahram
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45. 6. Low Physical Effort
Can visitors fully appreciate the
given information without
needing much physical effort or
dexterity?
@SinaBahram
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46. 7. Size And Space for Approach And Use
Can visitors get close; have
enough space in which to move
around, even with a wheelchair,
walker, or crutches; and
manipulate it, independent of
posture or other physical
limitations?
@SinaBahram
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47. How to Reach Systemic Accessibility
• Design and build inclusively
‒ It is far more expensive to retrofit accessibility into an existing artifact
• Involve persons with disabilities early and often
‒ This helps ground designs in real-world user needs
• Include accessibility into Call for Proposals (CFP)
‒ This represents actual institutional commitment
• Require accessibility in contracts with vendors
‒ This helps insure accessibility actually happens
• Evaluate
‒ Gather feedback on how things are working for your visitors/users
@SinaBahram
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48. Anna Lindgren-Streicher
Manager Research & Evaluation, Boston Museum of Science
@astreichs
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49. Matching mobile to your museum
Find a good fit for your goals
• Challenges with social, hands-on,
interactive experiences
• Experiment with how mobile
supports the core experience
• Use mobile to mediate for visitors
with disabilities
@astreichs
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50. Matching mobile to your museum
How can mobile be used to…
• Provide additional experiences or information visitors can share
with others?
• Provide multisensory access to experiences & information?
• Provide a parallel experience for inaccessible aspects?
@astreichs
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51. Lessons learned from the MOS
• ASL multimedia tour of
traveling exhibition
• Audio labels for small
permanent exhibit
@astreichs
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52. Lessons learned from the MOS
• Make it easy to access the mobile experience
‒ Clearly labeled pick-up or download
‒ Advertise it appropriately
• Trained, knowledgeable staff can make or break it
‒ Know accessibility features
‒ Be comfortable interacting with visitors with disabilities
@astreichs
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53. Lessons learned from the MOS
• Mobile experiences can provide independence
‒ Allows for self-paced experiences, not interpreter-led
‒ Can provide content in preferred modality or language
• Understand culture as well
‒ How do people prefer to receive information?
‒ What existing assumptions and behaviors can you build off of?
@astreichs
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54. Lessons learned from the MOS
Test things during development
• Seemingly small glitches can lead to
high frustration
• Use it thoroughly yourself
• Get feedback directly from your
intended audience
@astreichs
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55. RECOMMENDATIONS
“Accessibility is not a checklist – it is a
goal”
• Consider accessibility from the get –go
• Realize accessibility audiences are diverse -
one size does not fit all
• Utilize existing access tools (and allow device
customization)
• One size does not fit all
• Use universal design principles
• Test early and often
• Invest in staff training
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56. Research Resources
Web Aim Low Vision Survey - http://webaim.org/projects/lowvisionsurvey/
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines :http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20
CMME Personas: http://openexhibits.org/accessibility/using-personas-to-create-inclusive-
digital-exhibit-interactives/8777/
http://sinabahram.com/resources.php
ArtBeyondSight.org
antennalab.org
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57. Tech Resources
iOS
https://developer.apple.com/accessibility
Android
http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/accessibility.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessibility/apps.html
Microsoft UI Automation
http://bit.ly/TZdUkJ
BBC Mobile
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/futuremedia/accessibility/mobile
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58. Content Resources
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• Image Description
§ Guidelines for Describing STEM Images
http://ncam.wgbh.org/experience_learn/educational_media/stemdx/guidelines
§ Alternative Text on the Web
http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext
§ Image Accessibility Considerations
http://webaim.org/techniques/images
o POET – A tool for adding image descriptions to digital talking books
§ Tutorial: http://youtu.be/jtBZO0kTkSo
• Video Description
Guidelines: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNJrbI_nyy9uzywoJfyDRoeKA1SaIEFJ7
YouDescribe - A free service that allows anyone to describe a YouTube video. Videos can be
played back with description by eyes-free users and others who benefit from description.
http://youdescribe.ski.org
§ Tutorial: http://youtu.be/c-GKbGCzeEc
• 3D Printing for Accessible Materials
http://youtu.be/-0TSvNFf8Xw
• Latest Developments in image accessibility: The DIAGRAM Center
http://youtu.be/-0TSvNFf8Xw

59. Questions?
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60. Thank you
Annie Leist @artaccessannie @ArtByndSight
Sina Bahram @SinaBahram
Anna Lindgren-Streicher, Museum of Science @astreichs
Sofie Andersen @sofieny @antenna_lab
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61. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
•With thanks to all Antenna/ASB Survey participants
•ABS staff Elisabeth Axel, Nina Levent, Ibraheem Fakir
•Hannah Goodwin, MFA Boston
•Danielle Linzer, The Whitney Museum of American Art
•Cynthia Overton Ph.D, American Institutes for Research
•Digital Accessibility Specialist Tom Babinski for use of CSUN13
research
•Gartner and Andrew Johnson for generous use of 2013 trends
reporting
•American Foundation for the Blind Technology Lab
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