Open Forum

Hello all,
I'm curious to learn about how my colleagues have dealt with issues of accessibility in contemporary media art. For example, the auditory content of a video installation for visitors who are hard of hearing or who don't understand the language spoken in the piece. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible to all museum visitors, we use bilingual signage and exhibition text, we provide (when possible) closed captioning for didactic videos in the galleries and in our content accessible online. For works of art where there are finite specifications for how the work is best viewed to honor the artist's intent, how can we as museum professionals provide the most accessible experiences of these works? Any insights or examples are much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Skye

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Skye Malish-Olson
Exhibition Designer
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX
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Hi Skye, I recommend checking out what the Missouri History Museum is doing currently for accessibility tours and interpretation.

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Margaret Koch
Interim Director
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Austin TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2017 10:47 AM
From: Skye Malish-Olson
Subject: Accessibility: Media Art

Hello all,
I'm curious to learn about how my colleagues have dealt with issues of accessibility in contemporary media art. For example, the auditory content of a video installation for visitors who are hard of hearing or who don't understand the language spoken in the piece. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible to all museum visitors, we use bilingual signage and exhibition text, we provide (when possible) closed captioning for didactic videos in the galleries and in our content accessible online. For works of art where there are finite specifications for how the work is best viewed to honor the artist's intent, how can we as museum professionals provide the most accessible experiences of these works? Any insights or examples are much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Skye

------------------------------
Skye Malish-Olson
Exhibition Designer
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Skye,

I'm with a company called Guide ID and we have a device called the "Podcatcher" that can do A/V syncing which is a great solution for the issue that you describe.  It syncs audio in various languages to a rolling video in real time.  I've attached a slide that illustrates the concept.  Feel free to reach out and I'd be happy to explore this further with you.

Best,

Jeff

------------------------------
Jeff Danziger
Regional Sales Director - USA
Guide ID
[Norwalk] [CT]
[jeffdanziger@guideid.com]
[347-523-8619]
[www.guideid.com]
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2017 10:47 AM
From: Skye Malish-Olson
Subject: Accessibility: Media Art

Hello all,
I'm curious to learn about how my colleagues have dealt with issues of accessibility in contemporary media art. For example, the auditory content of a video installation for visitors who are hard of hearing or who don't understand the language spoken in the piece. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible to all museum visitors, we use bilingual signage and exhibition text, we provide (when possible) closed captioning for didactic videos in the galleries and in our content accessible online. For works of art where there are finite specifications for how the work is best viewed to honor the artist's intent, how can we as museum professionals provide the most accessible experiences of these works? Any insights or examples are much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Skye

------------------------------
Skye Malish-Olson
Exhibition Designer
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX
------------------------------

Hi Skye,

While you might need to talk to the artist about using their art in this way, we have started a partnership this year with a local American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation organization to make all of our audio accessible to the deaf community. I think this might work with different languages as well. We have taken a video and have a side by side video of ASL interpretation. We placed QR codes next to all audio, visitors can scan them with their smartphones to play these videos. Here is an example from our Route 66 exhibit: http://vimeo.com/172434271.
You could always try to host access tours to better explain what the piece is literally saying but also figuratively saying. Maybe come up with a whole access tour of all the video media pieces.

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Nicole Smith
Membership & Data Coordinator
Missouri Historical Society and Museum
St. Louis MO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2017 10:47 AM
From: Skye Malish-Olson
Subject: Accessibility: Media Art

Hello all,
I'm curious to learn about how my colleagues have dealt with issues of accessibility in contemporary media art. For example, the auditory content of a video installation for visitors who are hard of hearing or who don't understand the language spoken in the piece. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible to all museum visitors, we use bilingual signage and exhibition text, we provide (when possible) closed captioning for didactic videos in the galleries and in our content accessible online. For works of art where there are finite specifications for how the work is best viewed to honor the artist's intent, how can we as museum professionals provide the most accessible experiences of these works? Any insights or examples are much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Skye

------------------------------
Skye Malish-Olson
Exhibition Designer
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas TX
------------------------------