Visual Impairment Heritage Partnership

IAA project type: Partnership grant

Duration of project: April 2024 to September 2024

Partner organisation: Eyes4Positivity

Individual partner: Ramona Williams, Eyes4Positivity Consultant

MOLA staff: Lawrence Northall (project lead), Katrina Foxton (project co-lead), Cat Gibbs (support & evaluation)

Project aims

Visual Impairment Heritage Partnership aims to deliver workshops alongside Eyes4Positivity, with individuals that have lived experience of visual impairment (VIPs). Using co-design heritage engagement strategies, and drawing on MOLA projects as case studies, the project aims to establish publicly accessible guidance on visual impairment inclusivity for the benefit of practitioners in the sector looking to work with or provide for VIP heritage audiences.

Audiences

VIP heritage audiences

Heritage organisations and practitioners interested in improving inclusivity

Eyes4Positivity

Project Plan

Four workshops with partner organisation will generate knowledge exchange and use co-design to study the feasibility of VIP inclusive methods within MOLA and the wider heritage sector. These will result in an accessible guidance document outlining best practice for VIP inclusivity through a range of engagement strategies.

Learnings from UNPATH’s VIP co-design process and UNPATH VIP feedback were drawn upon to further determine the approach for workshops.

This led to the design of the following 4 workshops:

Workshop 1: Barriers and opportunities in cultural/heritage engagement

General discussion of VIP experiences and perceptions of cultural / heritage engagement.

Workshop 2: Historical research as a form of engagement

Discussion of historical and archival records as a form of engagement using MOLA projects as case studies e.g., Coasts in Mind. Records were not limited to documentary evidence including video, audio, tactile objects, etc.

Workshop 3: Heritage dissemination methods

Critical engagement with MOLA projects as ‘pop up’ exhibitions e.g. Red Lion Court, A428, and Brentford Waterside (podwalks).

‘Tabla Rasa’ exercise allows VIPs a chance to design their own hypothetical exhibitions (within perimeters of a brief).

Workshop 4: Guidance document co-design & evaluation

Drawing on the knowledge gathered in workshops 1-3, VIPs were invited to discuss the structure of the guidance, any final topics or subject matters of interest, and the final evaluation of the project.

Project outputs

Download our project evaluation report and VIHP inclusivity guidance.

Project evaluation report

VIHP project evaluation report

Project evaluation report (Large Print)

Large Print VIHP project evaluation report

VIHP Inclusivity Guidance

VIHP inclusivity guidance (Large Print)

Large Print VIHP inclusivity guidance

Project impacts

The benefits of the VIHP project are numerous.

Firstly, the MOLA staff were trained by Eyes4Positivity. Feedback quotes from MOLA staff show the impact of Sight Loss Awareness training:

I feel that I have a greater understanding of the daily challenges faced by those with different types of impairments and how this can impact choices (of what a VIP decides to do with their lives!) 

I now feel deeper understanding and therefore more confidence to speak up and support VIPs. 

MOLA staff have been upskilled and can impart their knowledge and awareness for VIPs in future projects.

Secondly, the VIPs involved found the codesign workshops to be a positive experience:

It's been a really worthwhile experience…it’s great to have an opportunity for our voices to be heard and I really feel they have been [heard] and understood… whereas in all too many situations we’re heard and ignored - Andrew (VIHP participant)

Other legacy impacts include:

Plans for ongoing work with Eyes4Positivity in the form of a new application proposing another IAA, which focuses on working with VIPs to develop 3D-printed archaeological objects and sites.
A new article is to be written for the Curator publishers, focusing on the Unpath’d Waters project findings, and this will make considerable reference to the guidance toolkit and evaluation reflections from the VIHP project.

On sharing the guidance toolkit with their networks, Eyes4Positivity received positive feedback from a representative of the local Inclusive Design Review Panel:

Thank you so much for sharing the visually impaired heritage partnership report.  I will share this with […] the council’s Urban Design and Heritage Team Leader.  

Lastly, the Public Impact strategy incorporates learnings from VIHP project for future work and evaluation frameworks.

Explore our project gallery

Four people standing round a table having a discussion. On the table is a box and some sheets with images on them. Two of the people are holding archaeological objects.

A group of people sat at a table having a conversation.

A group of people sitting around a table trying on different types of glasses.