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Patternmakers access statement

We recently worked with our Senior Research Advisor, Accessibility, Morwenna Collett, to develop an Access Statement for Melbourne Fringe. Here we share our intent for all future projects regarding consideration of accessibility and inclusion at every stage of our work.

INTRODUCTION

At Patternmakers we strive to make our work as accessible as possible. We recently worked together develop an Access Statement for our work with Melbourne Fringe to evaluate their Access & Inclusion program. 

It got us thinking about how we can make other aspects of our work more accessible.

Here we share our intent for ALL future projects, and how we will consider accessibility and inclusion at every stage of our work.

ACCESS STATEMENT

Access is important to us. We’re committed to providing equal access to all stakeholders to participate in each project we undertake.

When undertaking a new project, we’ll identify all stakeholders and their needs early in the process. When communicating with stakeholders and participants, we’ll ask everyone about their access requirements, and set aside the resources to meet those requirements effectively. Thinking more broadly than the purely technical aspects of accessibility, we’ll be open, welcoming and encourage people to give us feedback, so we can adjust our approach accordingly. 

During our fieldwork, we make sure we establish informed consent to participate and we commit to meeting AMSRS guidelines for consent. 

When drafting documents, we’ll use a minimum of 12 point font, high contrasts between font and background colour and Plain English (sometimes with the addition of Easy English) wherever possible.

We understand the importance of considering time of day, duration and location of our fieldwork, and that sometimes assistance may be required from support workers, carers or parents for any fieldwork activities involving people with disability.

When inviting people to meet with us face to face, we’ll ask them whether they have any access requirements and make it clear that alternative participation options can be provided if required. We’ll then do everything within our capacity to ensure these requirements are met so that the person can fully participate without disadvantage. 

When selecting a venue to meet in, we’ll meet in venues that we know are fully accessible where possible. We’ll take into consideration access requirements that we’re aware of and if necessary, seek advice from the person we’re meeting with as to where might be an appropriate space for them.

When conducting surveys, we’ll ensure that surveys are designed in a universally accessible manner, using an accessible platform, with alternative options for those who may need to respond using a different format. 

Improving accessibility throughout our work will be ongoing journey and one we’ll continue to enhance and seek feedback on. We’re aware that by conducting our work in a manner that is as accessible as possible, we’re not only opening doors for more people to engage with us, but we’re also aiming to improve the experience for all people that we interact with throughout our work and daily life.  

To find out more about our experience conducting research with people with access needs, check out our previous posts on ‘Inclusive and Accessible research: what we learnt from evaluating Unlimited’ and ‘Is evaluation truly accessible?’

If you have questions or suggestions about access in research, please get in touch with us at info@thepatternmakers.com.au

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About the Author

Morwenna Collett
Senior Research Advisor, Accessibility

Morwenna is an experienced leader, project manager, lecturer and consultant. She brings significant arts and disability expertise to the Patternmakers team.

 
 

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Inclusive and Accessible Research: what we learnt from evaluating Unlimited

We're excited to be continuing our work in the arts and disability field this year and thought we'd take a moment to share a bit about what we've learnt... 

After evaluating Unlimited in 2015, two independent researchers turned the lens on themselves. Here they share what they learnt from evaluating the accessibility of their work. 

In 2015, we – Morwenna Collett and Tandi Williams – were commissioned by Shape and Artsadmin to answer the question: ‘Is Unlimited changing the way in which disability and creativity are viewed within the cultural sector, and if so, how can it do it better?’ – see more here.

We learnt much about the programme, but we also learnt an enormous amount about how to conduct inclusive and accessible research and evaluation. We want to share what we learnt as broadly as possible, to ensure other researchers, evaluators and consultants can work towards equal access to participate in their work. Here are some of the things to consider:

Design

Involve disabled people from the outset: it was critical to have direct experience of disability in our team, and actively seek out as wide a range of people as possible to participate in our work, including people with different backgrounds and experiences, and disabled people who traditionally have faced a higher rate of exclusion from activities.

We asked absolutely everyone if they had any access requirements (even if we knew them) and made sure we set aside the resources to meet those requirements. Beyond technical aspects of accessibility, it was also important for us to be open and welcoming, and encourage people to give us feedback, so we could adjust our approach as required.

Fieldwork

An extended exploratory period was key to ensure we fully understood the issues, and a mixed-methods approach helped us widen accessibility so more people could participate.

Throughout our fieldwork, we offered accessible formats of all materials and resources so people could participate in whichever way suited them. During our qualitative phase, some preferred to be interviewed face-to-face, while others opted for Skype, instant chat or email. We learnt that everything – from the time of day, to duration, to location – matters.

For our quantitative research, we opted for an accessible programme, Surveymonkey, and tested it with a visually impaired person using a screen reader – again, offering alternative formats was valuable. To ensure learning-disabled stakeholders could participate, we asked their mentor to assist them to complete a questionnaire together.

More often than not, we managed to find inexpensive ways to meet access requirements, such as using accessible cultural venues as interview venues. The financial costs of access were lower than we expected; most of the time, true accessibility just required a bit of extra time and effort, such as extending interviews to avoid rushing a conversation.

Analysis and reporting

One of the simplest tools for accessibility is using the right font. We recommend that report content text be no smaller then 12 point font, preferably sans serif style. Any text should strongly contrast with the background colour and it’s best to avoid featuring text over the top of any images.

We produced a Word version as well as a PDF version of each of our reports, to ensure they were accessible to screenreader users. Any infographics or images had alt-text descriptions, so that visually-impaired people didn’t miss out on content.

We didn’t create any web content – but we learnt that when publishing material online, websites must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and any video content should be text captioned (to be accessible for deaf people) and audio described (for visually impaired people).

Conclusion

We learnt so much from working with Unlimited and have carried those lessons into our other projects and workplaces.

One of the tasks we undertook at the start of our project was to develop an Access Statement, which we used to set the intention for the project and plan what we would do to maximise access at every stage of the research (not just the outputs!). This got us thinking: could something like this be useful for other researchers and consultants? Could it help others embed an attitude of inclusion upfront, and design research that was more accessible? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so take a look and help us spread the word.

Our vision is for every researcher, every consultant, every author, every speaker, and every project to have an inclusive mind-set and the philosophy of being open, proactive and responsive to ensuring that everyone can participate and be included in everyone’s work.

Originally posted on unlimitedimpact.org.uk

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About the Author

Tandi Williams
Managing Director

Patternmakers’ Founder and Managing Director Tandi Williams is an experienced consultant and arts and culture research specialist.  

 
 

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5 New Digital Projects Helping People Access the Arts

Here at Patternmakers, we love hearing about new ways for people of all ages to access the arts. Here are five new projects that caught our attention... 

Here at Patternmakers, we love hearing about new technology offerings from cultural institutions. Below are five new projects that caught our attention because they not only offer new ways to experience culture, they demonstrate how technology giants are getting ever more creative.
 

1. Intel X Royal Shakespeare Company

Following a year of research with Intel and performance capture company The Imaginarium Studios, the Royal Shakespeare Company is delivering a new production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest that brings digital avatars to life on stage in real-time, interacting with live actors. Using technology that has most famously been used in films and gaming, they're able to capture an actor’s facial expressions and movements, ensuring the actor’s full performance is translated into the animated character. 

Why we love it: The show brings together theatre-making skills with digital innovation, pushing technical boundaries to create a truly innovative production for a new generation. For more information, visit rsc.org.uk
 

2. Google X Detroit Institute of Arts

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is using Tango, Google's augmented reality technology to give visitors additional information overlaid on real world art, connecting people with artworks in a global context beyond the DIA. Using the museum's smartphones, people can scan objects like an ancient limestone sculpture from Mesopotamia that has long lost its colours over the years and see how it looked before the colours faded, encouraging the imagination about the artworks in its original setting. 

Why we love it:  Museum goers can experience history in new ways through augmented reality, allowing them to see the unseen, understand how objects from the past were used and experienced in people's everyday lives. For more information, visit dia.org
 

3. Explorer X American Museum of Natural History

Explorer is more than just another app — it's a personal tour guide and curator to many curious visitors wandering through the expansive American Museum of Natural History. It offers fun facts, videos, and teaching tools for dozens of the most compelling items throughout the exhibits. According to NY Times Joseph Berger, it does things like “lets you hear the sound the real (blue whale) makes underwater” and also has “a Bluetooth-operated feature that guides you with GPS-like directions” to points of interest — apparently very helpful when looking for the bathroom or the cafe.  

Why we love it: Explorer enhances the museum experience and in an environment where stillness is usually the standard, it awakens the senses and brings the artefacts to life. For more information, visit nytimes.com
 

4. Octava X Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

In-performance apps have previously been the subject of taboo, but this new offering finds away around the challenge of bright screens in a dark auditorium. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is now offering Octava, a digital app that delivers real-time programme notes to audiences’ mobile devices, aiming to introduce newcomers to classical music and enhance their concert experience. 

Consider the app like a friend who can give you context for the musical ideas you’re hearing, translate the beautiful nuances of the language of the music, and let you know where you are in the performance so you can clap at the appropriate time. And the best part? Octava’s DarkscreenTM technology also allows information to be presented without distracting the user or those around them, and after 45 seconds, the screen goes dark. The user can re-engage if they so choose at any point in time during the performance.

Why we love it: Octava synchronises an old tradition with new technology, enriching the overall experience for concert-going newbies by providing in-depth details about the music and movements and possibly sparking a newfound love for symphonic sounds. For more information, visit rhinegold.co.uk
 

5. Samsung X Sydney Opera House

We all know the Sydney Opera House is an icon of Australia’s creative and technical achievement. Now with its Principal Partner Samsung, a stylish new social space called The Lounge features technology and art in a futuristic setting. Guests can comfortably sit and enjoy a number experiences ranging from historic architectural drawings and interviews with the Opera House’s architect Jorn Utzon to a thrilling virtual-reality experience of standing atop the famous sails. 

Why we love it: The Lounge is an exciting alternative to a behind-the-scenes or backstage tour, and uses the latest technology so guests can engage with the Opera House’s history, art and culture at their own pace and in the comfort. For more information, visit sydneyoperahouse.com


Have you experienced any of these technologies?
Is your organisation experimenting with these technologies?

We'd love to hear from you.

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About the Author

Tandi Williams
Managing Director

Patternmakers’ Founder and Managing Director Tandi Williams is an experienced consultant and arts and culture research specialist.  

 
 

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Is evaluation truly accessible?

One of the most interesting and rewarding projects I’ve ever completed was conducting an impact evaluation of the Unlimited Commissions Programme for disabled artists.

Between July and November 2015, my co-researcher Morwenna Collett and I immersed ourselves in the UK arts and disability world, to learn the language, issues and challenges that disabled artists face, and answer the question ‘Is Unlimited making a difference?’... 

One of the most interesting and rewarding projects I’ve ever completed was conducting an impact evaluation of the Unlimited Commissions Programme for disabled artists.

Between July and November 2015, my co-researcher Morwenna Collett and I immersed ourselves in the UK arts and disability world, to learn the language, issues and challenges that disabled artists face, and answer the question ‘Is Unlimited making a difference?’

We gathered rich data from over 135 people – approximately 50% of whom identified as disabled – and the insights were fascinating. Meeting the access requirements of the research participants was challenging – but hugely rewarding, both for the research and on a personal level.

I learned the nuances of disability identity, and language that is inclusive and respectful. I learned how to write a survey that is suitable for those with visual impairment, and discovered interview venues that were physically accessible. But the biggest thing I learned was that accessibility is more than all of these things put together. It’s about having an attitude of inclusion and committing to reach out and hear voices that are too often excluded.

Today Morwenna and I are presenting a paper at the ACSPRI Social Science Methodology conference, to share our thoughts about what it means for evaluation practice to be truly accessible. You can read our abstract here (or get in touch and we’ll send you a copy of the full paper).

Providing access doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Below we’ve assembled a list of access tips, facts and figures, and guidelines for doing research with people with disability.

One thing we want to get feedback on is our Access Statement for researchers and consultants. We used it at the beginning of the project to set the intention for the project, and plan what we would do to maximise access at every stage of the research (not just the outputs!).

It got us thinking… could something like this be useful for other researchers and consultants? Could it help others embed an attitude of inclusion upfront, and design research that was more accessible?

We’d love to hear your thoughts, so take a look and let us know what you think.

Tandi+new+profile+pic.png

About the Author

Tandi Williams
Managing Director

Patternmakers’ Founder and Managing Director Tandi Williams is an experienced consultant and arts and culture research specialist.  

 

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