Attracting Visitors – School of Tourism and Leisure Management, The University of Queensland

Visitors with disabilities

The term 'disabled' covers a wide variety of conditions ranging from those who are temporarily on crutches or permanently confined to wheelchairs, to those who are hearing, sight or intellectually impaired.

Visitors in wheelchairs

The main difficulties faced by those who are physically disabled relate to access, not only to the building but also the exhibits. To provide easy access for wheelchairs as well as for other visitors with restricted mobility (eg. parents with prams, the elderly), your centre/attraction should have:

Clearly signposted ramps, lifts and handrails;
Paths and access corridors that are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs;
Level entrances to exhibits, with any changes in gradients clearly delineated by a contrast in either colour or texture;
Non-slippery floor coverings, handrails and ramps;
Carpet that has a short, non-directional pile; and
Signs, exhibits and interactive activities (including buttons, levers etc.) that are visible and accessible from wheelchair height. This includes equipment linked to displays that require visitors to speak into a specific area, listen at a specific site or view items from a particular vantage point. Hint: Anything placed above 1015 mm will be difficult for seated visitors to access.

Visitors with visual impairment

Design elements that accommodate visitors with limited vision include:

displays and exhibits that are three dimensional, tactile and easy to clean;
exhibits that have rounded edges;
models and full-scale replicas of display items that can be handled;
strong colour contrasts and large texts;
easy access;
objects that are mounted against simple backgrounds;
no shadows on display items;
a limited number of objects staggered from front to back;
auditory information such as portable sound cassettes or 'in situ' audio presentations. This input should be detailed enough to provide visually impaired visitors with a detailed 'mental image' of the items or concepts being exhibited;
amplified sounds related to the exhibit (eg. the "whuunh" sound of a working horse breathing); and
elements that stimulate other senses (eg. odours).

Useful Tips:

If you are designing models and replicas that will be exposed to regular handling they must be simple and robust.

Visually impaired visitors will need to get within 75mm of signs to read text.

Visitors with hearing difficulties

Catering for hearing impaired visitors involves:

ensuring that any information presented audibly is also presented visually;
captioning audio-visual displays;
ensuring that displays which rely on sound to convey meaning are accompanied by additional graphics;and
designing attractions so that the sound from separate exhibits do not overlap or interfere with each other.

Visitors with learning difficulties

The term 'learning difficulties' refers to a range of conditions that vary widely from one person to the next, however, the following are particularly appropriate for this group:

short, simply worded labels that clearly explain any technical terms;
limited text;
stories, clear themes and repetition;
large print and clear colour contrasts;
simple graphics;
exhibits that are multi-sensory (eg. tactile, audio-visual, olfactory);
varied activities (eg. dance, drama, mime, drawing, craft); and
text and photographs that include the experiences of those with disabilities.

Exercise

You are designing an exhibit about railways and the role they had in opening up remote areas. Your centre attracts a large number of families and primary school children, including children from a 'special needs' school.

What activities could you include to stimulate interaction and learning for these groups? What props and displays could you design that would be particularly suitable for those with visual and hearing difficulties?