Coherit | Accessibility Training Program

Client:

Art Beyond Sight

Art Beyond Sight, Inc. (ABS) is dedicated to empowering and enriching the lives of physically and cognitively challenged children and adults through the life-enriching benefits of art and culture. The ABS collaborative approach to research and exploration of innovative, effective, and impactful solutions has realized advances in multi-sensory learning and disability inclusion which are now standard practice. During the 30 years of its existence, ABS has compiled an impressive collection of teaching plans, online instructional videos, and online publications.

The project was funded by a grant administered by The U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS).

The Challenges

A large collection of accumulated educational resources of different types, lengths, in various digital forms that had been exclusively focused on art museums, resulting in a substantial body of teaching material that had not yet been utilized to strengthen accessibility training by other cultural institutions, including history museums and heritage sites.
Current approaches to accessibility at heritage sites focus primarily on physical rather than cognitive and interpretive accessibility, resulting in amenities and infrastructure that permit entry to heritage sites by persons with physical disabilities, but do not adequately serve those with cognitive or intellectual challenges.
No comprehensive curriculum exists for the teaching of accessibility principles and methods that include both physical and cognitive dimensions, with special emphasis on the cultural heritage domain, resulting in a lack of systematic training for site managers, interpreters, and other heritage professionals that incorporates both dimensions of accessibility.

Our Work

We undertook a thorough review of existing ABS teaching resources and assessed their adaptability for the cultural heritage domain.
We formulated a comprehensive curriculum for teaching accessibility in the cultural heritage domain, based on a set of core competences and learning objectives for the cultural heritage sector (management, site/exhibit design, guiding, and digital technologies).
We arranged these core competences and learning objectives into a set of proposed online and classroom-based courses.
We identified existing ABS materials that contributed to each learning objective, leading to the identification of current gaps in content and recommendations for suggested revisions to accommodate the specific accessibility needs of the cultural heritage domain.
We proposed a detailed strategic roadmap to guide ABS in its planning, development, and marketing of the proposed cultural heritage accessibility curriculum to educational institutions and cultural heritage organizations.

Results

A two-stage curriculum that began with the basic principles of disability awareness and accessibility for all heritage professionals and was divided to address specific areas of heritage expertise in its second stage.
The Level 1 Introductory Courses included:

Serving a Wider Public: Disability Awareness
Inclusive Heritage: Accessibility and Universal Design

The Level 2 Courses were designed as separate accessibility training for the differing responsibilities of:

Heritage Site Institution Managers
Interpretation Professionals and Exhibit Design Firms
Tour Guides, Site Interpreters, and Docents
Digital Heritage Designers and Managers Involved in Digital Heritage Projects

A prioritized roadmap for planning, course development, and marketing of the heritage accessibility curriculum.

Schedule your free strategy session

For a free 30-minute strategy session on how to take advantage of new methods for tackling pressing heritage challenges, please complete the form below and a member of our team will reach out to schedule your complimentary problem-solving session.