Creating inclusive museum environment
A project for people with special needs was presented in the National Museum in Astana. Now visitors with visual and hearing impairment can get acquainted with the centuries-old history of Kazakhstan and the unique exhibits presented there.
Insar Iztileuov, who is keen on history, has long wanted to visit the museum. And if he used to face barriers to do this, now he can easily get acquainted with the most famous exhibits.
“I love history. Currently, I'm using my hands to study the items related to the Golden Man. It is actually written here in Braille that these things belonged to the Golden Man,” he shared.
Sculptors and restorers created more than 20 tactile museum exhibits for blind and visually impaired visitors. Each of the models is an exact replica of the presented exhibits. Description to them is provided in a special relief-dot tactile font.
“In general, the project allows visitors to get acquainted with the history of Kazakhstan from ancient to modern times. All chronological periods are covered by this project, and the objects brightly reflecting a certain historical period are showcased in the given tactile, inclusive exhibition,” said Abai Satybaldin, Deputy Director of the National Museum of Kazakhstan.
The museum now also has audio guides that give information in three languages - Kazakh, English and Russian.
“Audio description is a detailed depiction of everything that surrounds a person, who cannot see it, and therefore, he gets information through sound accompaniment, but to provide it, texts should be prepared by specialists. There are special teaching methods, and we would like audio transcription to be introduced into the legislation of Kazakhstan along with the sign language, which is a tool for communication for blind children and adults,” added Maral Sheshembekova, projects and programs director at the Dara Foundation.
In addition, there are information booths in all halls of the museum that broadcast video tours with sign language interpretation in three languages. They can be viewed on the tablets provided.
