Intrepid Museum Accessibility Reflection
Purpose: Reflect on your museum visit about how people with sensory and cognitive disabilities are supported in accessible exhibit-based activities at the Intrepid Museum.
Assignment: We are expecting you reflect on one accessibility win you observed at the Intrepid Museum
- DO focus on sensory items in exhibits.
- DO NOT focus on physical barriers.
Due date: Before class on 2/13/2020, handed in on the NYUClasses site.
Exhibit Name: The submarine Growler and the Cold War.
Student Name: Dina Khalil
Image description of the area/item in the exhibit:
Above every screen, something that looks like an umbrella that has a speaker attached to it and when you stand under it you can clearly hear what you see on the screen.
One sentence that sums up the good design:
Standing in your own bubble to clearly listen to what’s on the screen while canceling out the distracting noises.
Why is this a good design?
The sound system is perfectly place above the screen so the user can watch and listen with ease and comfort. Also, the diameter of the circle above the user is wide enough to fit a person on a wheelchair that would go under it. This section has the hearing loop sign, which is a technique that offers a magnetic, wireless signal that is picked up by the hearing aid.
What functional abilities are impacted by this design?
o Motor
o Sensory (auditory)
Reflect on the following aspects of this design:
Impact (what is the impact of this good design on visitor experience?):
It’s crazy how clear the sound is. I thought it was a bad design standing a bit far from the screen just because the surrounding was too noisy, and I can see people on the screen moving their lips but couldn’t hear a thing. Then I walked closer to the screen and suddenly I could hear the screen loud and clear. I realized that I stood under an umbrella look-alike voice system and was amazed by how clear and noise cancelling it was.
Persistence (How is the good design repeated in different aspects of the exhibit experience?):
The sound “umbrella” is placed above every screen that shows content with sound.
