In Touch with Art 2010 Conference Resolution
to Governments and Stakeholders Worldwide
“Equal Access to Museums – implementing the cultural
rights of blind and partially sighted people “
Content
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Executive Summary, page 1
About the Resolution, page 3
The Human and Cultural Rights of Visually Impaired People, page 5
Barriers to Equal Access to Museums for Visually Impaired People in
2010, page 6
Building Skills and Knowledge for Change, page 11
Recommendations to Governments and Stakeholders, page 14
1.
Executive Summary
1.1
About the Resolution
This Resolution asks that Governments and stakeholders worldwide take
immediate and vigorous action to significantly widen and improve access for
blind and partially sighted people to the museum, gallery and heritage
experience.
The Resolution was passed by the delegates from 4 continents and 22 countries
who met at the “In Touch with Art – International perspectives on equal access to
museums for people with vision impairment” Conference. The Conference was
organised by St Dunstans in partnership with the European Blind Union. It was
held on 13-14 October 2010 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The delegates resolved to share their analysis of need with museums and
disability communities globally. They had come together to share best practice
and to discuss progress in accessibility over twenty years, the many barriers
1
blind and partially sighted people continue to face and action needed to grant
visually impaired people equal access to museums.
1.2
The Human and Cultural Rights of Visually Impaired People
International policies clearly establish the cultural rights of visually impaired
people. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 27), the
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (article 30) and Council
of Europe Recommendation R(92)6. These call for:


participation in culture on an equal basis (UN Convention, 2008)
lasting and significant improvements (Council of Europe, 1992)
These policies have barely begun to be implemented and as a result cultural
exclusion of persons with disabilities remains high.
1.3
Barriers to Equal Access to Museums for Visually Impaired People
These include:



1.4
lack of national strategic action and funding by governments in a number
of areas
institutional barriers in museums, galleries and heritage sites, including
lack of commitment to inclusive design of services, spaces and exhibition
displays
a highly limited and fragmented accessible cultural offer for blind and
partially sighted people worldwide which increases social and cultural
exclusion.
Recommendations for Change to Governments and Stakeholders





Governments should develop the comprehensive plans and strategies
called by international policies, in consultation with persons with
disabilities.
Local governments should develop access policies and make disability
access, including intellectual access, integral to every museum project
and development
Museums, galleries and heritage sites write intellectual, sensory and
physical access into every project and design.
National and international professional museum, gallery and heritage
associations should provide ongoing sector skills training.
All involved in museum and exhibition design globally should explore
and develop creative solutions to inclusive design for people with
disabilities, and specifically visually impaired people.
2
The global financial crisis must not be allowed to become a reason for avoiding
responsibility and denying human rights.
3
2.
About the Resolution
2.1
When and by whom was the Resolution passed
The Resolution was passed by the Delegates of the Conference ‘In Touch with
Art 2010 - International Perspectives on equal access to museums for vision
impaired people. The Conference was held on 13-14 October 2010 at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was organised by St. Dunstan's in
partnership with the European Blind Union.
The Resolution was passed by 144 Delegates from 22 countries and 4
continents, in individual capacity. There was 1 abstention and 2 absentees.
The Delegates’ depth of expertise was exceptional. Six organisations present
were winners of national and international design and cultural access awards.
The Delegates were museum, gallery and heritage educators, outreach workers
and managers; blind and partially sighted museum professionals, artists,
architects and arts development workers; employees of cultural bodies, exhibition
designers and access consultants; producers of audio guides, tactile books,
models and images; audio describers, digital technology professionals, social
workers, rehabilitation workers and leaders of national and international
organisations of visually impaired people.
The Conference provided the Delegates with a rare opportunity to share new
best practice and discuss challenges and solutions to the barriers blind and
partially sighted people still face to equal access to museums, galleries and
heritage
2.2
Inclusive service design in museums humanises society. It is a great
creative opportunity.
The Delegates share a common belief that:

designing services for visually impaired people and other minority groups
is a positive catalyst for improved services for everyone. It is a profoundly
creative opportunity.

inclusive museum, exhibition and service design solutions which take
advantage of all the possibilities there are for personalisation are the way
forward.
4
2.3
The Delegates’ call on Governments, International Institutions and
Stakeholders worldwide
The Delegates ask that Governments, International Institutions and Stakeholders
worldwide take immediate and vigorous action to significantly widen and improve
access for blind and partially sighted people to the museum, gallery and heritage
experience.
The global financial crisis must not be allowed to be a reason for avoiding
responsibility and denying human and cultural rights.
5
3.
The Human and Cultural Rights of Visually Impaired People
The Delegates stress that international policies clearly establish the right of
persons with disabilities to participate on equal terms in cultural life and in the
museum experience:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (HRD), article 27, (1948)
"Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community,
to enjoy the arts ... and its benefits."
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
article 30 (2008)
"States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to take part on an
equal basis with others in cultural life, and shall take all appropriate measures to
ensure that persons with disabilities:
(a) enjoy access to cultural materials in accessible formats;
(b) enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre, and other cultural
activities, in accessible formats;
(c) enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services, such as
theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and tourism services, and, as far as
possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites of national cultural importance....”
Council of Europe Recommendation R (92)6, chapter VIII, section 8,5,
(1992)
"Government institutions, leisure and cultural organisations should develop
comprehensive access policies and action programmes designed to bring about
significant and lasting improvements for all people with disabilities."
Council of Europe Action Plan (2006-2015) on "Full Participation of People
with Disabilities in Society", chapter 1,5, p 8 and chapter 3,2, p 13 about
culture)
“Member states should start with an evaluation of their existing disability policy
programmes and identify in which areas progress has yet to be made…"
The European Blind Union 'Art Horizons 1990' Conference Resolution called
on local, national and international public cultural bodies to develop policies
which guarantee vision impaired people access to art, museums and heritage.
6
4.
Barriers to Equal Access to Museums for Visually Impaired
People in 2010
4.1
The need for change: limited progress from 1990-2010
The Delegates:

note that since 1990 progress in access to museums, galleries and
heritage sites for visually impaired people has been achieved in many
countries and that attitudes are changing. Many examples of good practice
exist.

are acutely aware, however, that progress remains limited. The accessible
cultural offer of museums is very fragmented, both on-site and on-line. The
conditions for blind and partially sighted people to enjoy access to
museums on an equal basis are not in place.

identified barriers which continue to visually impaired people worldwide
from enjoying equal access to museums, galleries and heritage sites.
These barriers are institutional, attitudinal, physical, sensory and
intellectual. Some of these barriers can be removed locally and
inexpensively, others require concerted strategic action at national level.

categorically state that vigorous strategic action at national level is
necessary for the cultural rights of visually impaired people to become an
everyday reality.
4.2
Policy, strategy, cultural funding and technology research funding
National Governments and Regional Governments in Federal States worldwide
have hardly begun to:

develop coherent national strategic approaches to equal access to
museums for persons with disabilities and for visually impaired people
specifically. This is in spite of international cultural rights policies and antidiscrimination legislation in some countries.

feature persons with disabilities in cultural sector research. This has a
profoundly discriminatory impact.

undertake or fund surveys and research about the experiences of visually
impaired people in museums, galleries and heritage sites, the barriers they
face, new solutions (some provided by technology) for accessibility and
sector skills need.
7

make disability equality and inclusive design solutions an essential funding
criterion for museums, galleries and heritage sites. Thereby they contribute
to enhancing exclusion.
The European Union does fund research and operational projects which have a
bearing on equal access to museums for blind and partially sighted people, but
their effectiveness to stimulate change little known to the public. Nor is it known
whether these projects always have the right level of knowledge about the
requirements of persons with disabilities.
4.3
Museums, galleries and heritage sites: attitude and practice
There are still museums, galleries and heritage sites worldwide which see:

barriers as negativity, rather than as an opportunity for change.

persons with disabilities as the problem, rather than as part of the design
solution. Creative design solutions for disabled and older people and
minority audiences contribute to enhanced accessibility for all. These
values and considerations forms all too seldom part of service design
processes. Inclusive design solutions therefore remain vastly underexplored.

visually impaired people as separate from the audience. This inevitably
leads to separate service provision and design solutions. Intellectual,
sensory and physical access for blind and partially sighted people is all too
seldom built in right at the start of a project (and seldom features in the
project brief). The result is a budget allocation which discriminates against
visually impaired people. When accessibility is being built in at a later
stage, this almost always means a service of lesser quality and a poor
design solution. The result re-inforces exclusion.

visually impaired people as a single homogenous group, whereas they are
as varied as the population at large. Responsiveness to visually impaired
audiences requires greater flexibility and personalisation than in the past.
Museums, galleries and heritage sites worldwide too seldom involve blind and
partially-sighted people in decisions affecting the quality of their museum, gallery
and heritage experience and employment prospects in the sector.
Museums, galleries and heritage sites worldwide tend to lack awareness of
cultural rights of visually impaired people and any legal anti-discrimination duties
they may have.
8
4.4
The national and global accessible cultural offer and infrastructure
The accessible cultural offer in museums, galleries and heritage sites remains
highly limited and fragmentary for visually impaired people. It bears no
comparison with the wealth of the world’s collections. Lack of opportunity for
cultural participation and personal development creates cultural and social
exclusion. It stifles the development of national and international cultural tourism
by blind and partially sighted people.
Examples of barriers and restricted choice include:

blind and partially-sighted children, pupils and students have highly
restricted handling opportunities of representative and significant works of
art and museum objects. Accessible learning resources remain wholly
insufficient. Generally the education system does not sufficiently
encourage the development of tactile and visual perception for visually
impaired young people. Museums have an active role to play.

blind artists require access to a large body of authentic objects to grow
their unique creative skills to compete with fully-sighted artists. Partiallysighted artists require opportunities for studying museum objects and
works of art in conditions of optimal visibility.

visually impaired artists require employment opportunities in the museum,
gallery and heritage sectors.

museums seldom provide visitor resources for families in which a parent or
child is visually impaired.

very few museum websites present on-line collections and learning
resources in ways that are accessible to visually impaired people (e.g.
through audio description, strong colour-tone contrast, high resolution).
Web accessibility standards are often poor.

the potential of using audio description, tactile images, tactile models and
modern technologies to provide access to collections remains strongly
under-used.

worldwide, the vast majority of expensive new museum, gallery and
exhibition developments continue to ignore the above possibilities and the
right of intellectual access to collections for visually impaired people, deaf
people and people with learning difficulties.

the enjoyment and accessibility of the museum experience relies on a
number of factors, ranging from access information for visitors to quality
9
intellectual and sensory access to collections. These services are seldom
seamlessly integrated service experience.

visitor information about the accessible cultural offer is often hard to find,
insufficient and can be unreliable. Many museums offer highly interesting
experiences, such as guided touch tours on request, but these facilities are
seldom publicised. Finding all the necessary information to make informed
choices can be a time-consuming and frustrating process.

international cultural tourism by visually impaired people strongly
hindered by the lack of joined-up approach between the cultural and
tourism sectors to providing travel, tourism and information on the
accessible cultural. Standards of accessibility to collections vary sizeably
from place to place and country to country.This makes it very difficult for
blind and partially sighted people to form positive and reliable visitor
expectations.
10
5.
Building skills and knowledge for change
5.1
The need to build skills for sustainable progress
The Delegates welcome the promising worldwide growth of engagement of
museums, galleries and heritage sites seeking to provide physical, sensory and
intellectual access to collections. They started discussion about the variety of
approaches and noted:

the urgent need to professionalise this marginalised and promising field
and create more opportunities for exchange and professional development
with users. This is much needed to make the learning of the past twenty
years sustainable and design contemporary solutions to enduring
challenges.

areas where knowledge needs to be collected, discussed, evolved further
and shared out to the museum community and organisations of visually
impaired people globally.
5.2
The need for specific knowledge, guidance, information and
resources
More knowledge, guidance, information and resources about the following are
needed:

qualitative and quantitative research, as well as international good
practice examples about all aspects of the accessible museum
experience of visually impaired users to inform local practice and national
strategy development. This includes:

audio description of museum, gallery and heritage collections. Audio
description requires very skilfully chosen words. It is a must in every
aspect of access to collections and a shared museum experience for
visually impaired people. The few publicly available audio description
guidelines for the sector date back to the mid-nineties and need up-dating
in a process of collective knowledge building. Audio description and its
relationship to what is called ‘museum interpretation’ (such as ‘telling the
story/ies’ of objects and collections and providing historical or biographical
background information) is a vast and vital area for reflection,
experimentation and discussion. A wealth of practice and a number of
approaches exist, but these are little documented. The possibilities for a
responsive, personalised service, on-site and on-line, live and recorded,
need to be more fully mapped and explored. More experimentation is
needed about how the emotional impact of works of art can be conveyed
without imposing meaning on users.
11

touch and multi-sensory opportunities for blind people. Wherever
possible, blind people should be allowed to touch quality authentic objects
representative of the significance of a collection. Wherever possible all
visitors should be allowed to touch. We need the courage, insight and
knowledge to stretch the boundaries of what is currently on offer.

tactile images and models in museums, galleries and heritage sites. This
is an extremely fragmented field. Guidance and training only exists in a
couple of countries and needs to be further developed. The sector needs
opportunity to learn and adapt from relevant knowledge from the formal
education sector. In particular, guidance for guiding the tactile exploration
is needed. The sector needs easy access to existing design conventions
for tactile images and information about various techniques, materials,
their cost and suitability for specific contexts. Sector training for visually
impaired people to read tactile images is much needed, as many have had
no opportunity to develop these skills. Pioneering work has been
undertaken in a couple of countries.

global access to audio description on-line. Only a few dozen museum
websites in the world provide some audio description on-line. For the user,
there is no integrated experience and they are difficult to find. These
examples need to be multiplied, always with the use of available best
practice at any given time.

global access to tactile images on-line. In a couple of countries, some
pioneering museums and publishers have produced thousands of tactile
images about museums and heritage (part of these are computer
generated and can be edited for specific purposes. They allow for flexible
uses). Resources are needed to create a web-based repository or a
distributed data-bank of all these drawings, which can be printed out
anywhere in the world as tactile images with affordable ‘tactile
photocopiers’. Many of these resources are likely to be free of charge, but
information about tactile books and resources for borrowing and buying
also needs to be widely available.

information on the accessible museum and cultural offer. This needs
to be easy to access and reliable. User involvement in and testing of
website and other information supports is vital in the gradual development
of harmonised approaches, which give users confidence. This is of vital
importance for the development of international cultural tourism by
visually impaired people.

new technologies. The power of technologies needs to be harnessed.
Technology moves fast, brings new opportunities, but there is no
mechanism for keeping up with developments. There is generally a need
for museum professionals for information about options available and
12
guidance on solutions for specific contexts and uses. There is a need for
cost effective solutions and delegates believe that purposeful and skilled
research and development that technology can provide these. There is a
need for affordable user friendly technologies, which can be easily used by
both blind and partially sighted people.

inclusive exhibition design. Guidance on how best to integrate the
design of audio description, authentic tactile objects, tactile images, tactile
models and new technologies within exhibition design for all visitors is
needed. A few museums have pioneered this approach. In particular,
training for graphic designers is a must for meaningful tactile work within a
multi-disciplinary approach to be created. The graphic designers’
knowledge and understanding of museum objects is an important asset.
13
6.
Recommendations to Governments and All Stakeholders
6.1
Overcoming barriers: taking responsibility for progress globally
The Delegates identified key solutions which are needed to remove the
barriers that blind and partially sighted people face, so that they can take part in
the museum experience on equal terms.
They also identified key players who share in the responsibility to bring about
change. They urge these organisations to take immediate and vigorous action:
6.2 National Government Departments and Ministries for Culture,
Regional Governments in Federal States and International Institutions
6..2.1 National Government Departments and Ministries for Culture,
Regional Governments in Federal States should implement the international
policies and meet all legal obligations of national anti-discrimination legislation to
which they have signed up. In particular, they should:
 develop national strategies aimed at providing persons with disabilities and
specifically visually impaired people with access to museums ‘on an equal
basis’ (UN Convention, 2008)) and ‘lasting and significant improvements’
in access to museums (Council of Europe Resolution, 1992).
 provide leadership for change.
 provide funding to collect and disseminate international best practice
examples and to evolve new guidance where it does not yet exist.
 provide funding to develop state-of-the-art training for staff in an ever
evolving area.
 pro-actively champion and promote the potential of inclusive design
solutions for the museum experience, which provide access for visually
impaired people.
 fund research into barriers and solutions to equal access to museums
collections for visually impaired people, in particular in areas identified by
the Delegates and which can inform practice. These include audio
description, tactile images, models, authentic objects for touching,
empowering uses of digital technologies and inclusive exhibition design.
 make disability research integral to cultural sector research.
14
 make national funding for all museum, gallery and heritage developments
conditional on a commitment to inclusive service design solutions and
intellectual access to collections for visually impaired people.
 monitor progress.
 develop joined up work with departments and ministries for tourism with
the objective to make the whole tourism and museum experience
accessible for visually impaired people. This includes clear communication
of information on the web, clarity and simplicity of information, use of
standard symbols, as well as person-to-person dialogue with users
6.2.2 Local Governments should:


develop access policies and plans for museums in their ownership and
make disability access integral to all budgets and projects
make intellectual access to collections for visually impaired people deaf
people and people with a learning disability integral to every new museum
and gallery development, from the first stage of planning
6.2.3 The European Commission should develop a focused agenda for
change, which integrates contributions from key Directorates such as DGX
(Culture) and DG13 (Technology, R&D) and DV (Social Affairs).
6.2.4 The Council of Europe should monitor whether member states have
undertaken “an evaluation of their existing disability policy programmes and
identify in which areas progress has yet to be made taken to implement the
Action Plan” which they have committed to undertake at the beginning of the
Action Plan "Full Participation of People with Disabilities in Society” (2006-20015,
specifically in the field of culture and museums.
6.2.5 The United Nations should ensure that equal opportunity for persons with
disabilities in culture and in museums receives the same attention as the
economic, social and political rights of persons with disabilities in the promotion
and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities and in progress monitoring.
6.3
Museums, galleries and heritage sites
Museums, galleries and heritage sites worldwide should see visually impaired
people as part of the service and exhibition design solution and not as the
problem. They have enormous skills and knowledge and can push the
boundaries of inclusive design solutions. They should:
15

write intellectual, sensory and physical access for persons with disabilities
and specifically visually impaired people into every project and design
development brief.

go beyond service provision and consider employing people with
disabilities as employees and artists and explore the representation of
persons with disabilities in collections.

make the funding of disability equality an integral part of all budgets.

explore responsive, flexible and personalised services, onsite and online,
live and recorded.

provide intellectual access to exhibits which are representative of the
significance and quality of the collections.

widen the range and quality of exhibits available for handling by visually
impaired people.

expand multisensory experiences for all.

involve persons with disabilities in service design.

work in partnership with others to increase choice and opportunity for
visually impaired people and develop skills.
6.4 National and international museums associations, groups, networks
and conferences should:

promote sector skills for disability equality and equal access for visually
impaired people in continuous professional training, conference and
seminar programmes and in publications.

include advocacy for the human and cultural rights of persons with
disabilities in their advocacy work with governments and call for the
national strategies to be developed.
6.5 National and international associations, networks, groups and
conferences which foster museum and exhibition and interpretation design
should:

harness the potential of inclusive and human-centered design for persons
with disabilities and specifically visually impaired people and promote the
16
associated professional skills in continuous professional training,
conference, seminar programmes, publications and design challenges and
awards
The implementation of these actions is necessary for the cultural rights of visually
impaired people to become an everyday reality.
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 13-14 October 2010
17