National Science and Media Museum
Accessibility at heart of new Sound and Vision galleries
Mima were a pleasure to work with on Sound + Vision and the development of the National Science + Media Museum. Their expertise means that they’re well equipped to comment on the technical drawings for the capital project design and build as well as facilitate workshops with the museum's access panel. It's a holistic approach that has undoubtedly been beneficial to the project, ensuring it is accessible as possible. This has included introducing induction loops, installing new lifts and toilets as well as accessible resources such as tactile models, audio description and BSL.
A new, free permanent exhibition on levels three and five of the National Science and Media Museum, the Sound + Vision galleries is now open, slap bang in the middle of the year that the museum’s home city of Bradford is celebrating being the City of Culture. In these galleries that detail the past and present of TV, film, photography, technology and gaming, visitors can immerse themselves in over two centuries of innovation and change in the media we know, love and often take for granted.
Our Task
The redevelopment of the Sound + Vision galleries and the wider museum spaces aimed to address issues around accessibility and inclusivity for both visitors and staff. This included a need to improve the provision of sensory information, the accessible visitor journeys through the museum, and build relationships with lived experience users to shape the exhibitions and experiences. The brief was to ensure the new installations and facilities were not only compliant but welcoming, intuitive, and enjoyable for all.
Our Solution
Fortunate enough to be the accessibility consultants for the Sound + Vision galleries and the wider museum foyer fit-out that introduced a new welcome desk, seating and dwell areas, temporary exhibitions and a revitalised shop, Mima also recruited and facilitated a lived experience user group made up of six individuals with varying physical, sensory and cognitive impairments and access requirements to act as ‘critical friends’ to the museum, feeding back their thoughts on graphic designs, tactile information, access hub resources and the accessibility and ease of use of various interactives. We’re really proud to say that, over a two year period, the group largely stayed together and built their own community and rapport with the museum, resulting in many of them continuing to work with the museum in various capacities following the opening of Sound + Vision.
When we weren’t facilitating the user group, we worked as part of the design team, led by AOC Architects, and provided technical accessibility and inclusive design input for gallery design, furniture, fixtures and equipment, as well as interactive accessibility and ease of use, and the varying formats of pre-visit and on-site information that both visitors and colleagues with accessibility requirements may benefit from. Highlights included ensuring that party animals entering the ‘gig zone’ would benefit from visual as well as audio feedback so D/deaf and hard of hearing people could engage equitably, thinking about standing and seated viewing heights for Dracula’s fangs, and advising on the accessibility of ‘selfie wall’ with some local garden fairies… you’ve got to see it to believe it!
Visitors to Sound + Vision will be able to try their hand at radio broadcasting, learn how special effects for TV and cinema really work, and experience a new interactive installation based on movement and frame capture that encourages some serious dance moves. Check it out for yourself!
Many thanks to Yvonne Carmichael, Client Project Manager at the National Science and Media Museum for the following testimonial:
“Mima were a pleasure to work with on Sound + Vision and the development of the National Science + Media Museum. Their expertise means that they’re well equipped to comment on the technical drawings for the capital project design and build as well as facilitate workshops with the museum's access panel. It's a holistic approach that has undoubtedly been beneficial to the project, ensuring it is accessible as possible. This has included introducing induction loops, installing new lifts and toilets as well as accessible resources such as tactile models, audio description and BSL.”
