The Bank of England describes their collection for visually impaired people

The Bank of England started an interesting initiative, describing their collection. As they claim on their site, it is suitable for visually impaired adults. There is no information about the initiative, but it speaks for itself.

Often times, the problem with describing artifacts for blind people is that there is a small target audience at a high expense of description. Not to mention that many blind people don’t consider numismatics as a viable hobby, thus, making numismatic objects accessible in any way may not draw a big audience.

But the Bank of England put a twist on this project. Instead of describing the objects to blind people, they created an overview which can be interesting for all, but it does not exclude blind people.

So far there are two descriptions, a gold bar, and a sculpture of Britannia.

They are described by Dr. Miranda Garrett, the Museum’s Collection and Exhibitions Manager. She does not only describe the objects, but puts them into perspective and tells us about their story. We learn about the history of the gold bars, measurements, how Britannia was displayed on coins and currency, or we learn why she is carrying an olive branch. Each video is about 6 minutes long, and the majority of the presentation is targeted to all people. But here is the twist: part of the presentation describes what can be seen to make it enjoyable to those who can’t see the visuals. This is by no means disturbing or overwhelming for those who can see the video, but this way, they did not create a product at a high expense for a small audience. Rather, they made their products inclusive which most people can enjoy, including those who can’t see, or can’t hear for that matter, because the videos are also transcribed.

The solution is simple and elegant, yet so rarely used. If the video would assume that people are able to see it, it would only convey parts of the information for blind people, who would still benefit from it, but would lose probably the most important aspects. Yet, with a little consideration and some extra work, it is enjoyable by all.

I have to admit, I was not familiar with this site before, so I started browsing around and found that they have a highlight of their collection, which is very nicely done. Even without understanding the images, the descriptions are interesting, and the site is very usable with a screen reader.

I truly appreciate the work you had done, it is such a rare gem for a blind numismatist, and so useful for any interested visually or hearing impaired people. I would like to encourage you to continue this unique inclusive collection.

You can find the audio described highlights here.