VICTA’s 18+ participants were delighted to once again be invited to test accessibility with Smartify.

After successful support in 2023, with the Science Museum; 2024 saw our young people help support two projects focussing on the development of audio guides and voice descriptions for the National History Museum and the National Gallery, in London. These were fantastic opportunities to share real-world experiences with the creators of accessible technology in public spaces, enabling those with a vision impairment to have a say in how they would work.

In February, a group of young adults were invited to test the audio-guide development for the Natural History Museum’s newly opened gardens which follow the stages of evolution: taking visitors through the journey by exploring their collection of ancient fossils progressing to present day habitats such as grasslands and wetlands. After a successful afternoon of a focus group, VICTA was then invited to join a session in October at the National Gallery. The National Gallery were testing and designing new audio-guides to accompany the artworks on display to celebrate their 200th birthday . VICTA participants were able to give direct feedback on the proposed voice descriptions by exploring the art by sound.

For further information on Smartify and the work they do, visit: smartify.org

The group taking part in the Smartify day at the Natural History Museum