The Bank of Canada Museum

A few days after my presentation about accessible coin exhibits, I got a call from the Bank of Canada Museum, which was previously called the Currency Museum, to enquire about my presentation, and it turned into an on-site visit. I spent a day with the museum’s employees where we discussed my ideas about accessible exhibits, coin collecting, accessible currencies and many other fun things.

Fortunately, it wasn’t just a presentation that I prepared, but a lively discussion. I brought some coins, bank notes, and other related objects to show. I was offered that they could get things from the museum to support my presentation. Interestingly, one of the objects was the first Hungarian 5000 Forint, which I should have but I don’t, to illustrate what braille on money looked like in the early 90’s.

I got a tour of the museum to discuss the accessible implementations they had. Though it was primarily about the tactile experience, it is impossible, and not even necessary to separate from accessibility and inclusion in general. Thus, I experienced the thorough approach on how the museum welcomes people with different needs and disabilities.

There was a 3d representation of the devil’s face note. It is the way the queen’s hair looks into which you can see the devil’s face. I have to be honest, it is a concept that I would more believe than understand, without any prior vision it simply doesn’t make sense. Until, you can touch the 3d bank note, and a 3d representation of a devil’s head. And it all falls into places and makes sense. It was a very clever choice of a numismatic concept.

There were a few educational games where students can learn about money. I have to say, I have been to so many money museums where they created programs for kids, and the creativity is endless.

One game was where kids can open doors and find things behind them. They have to identify the one, which wasn’t used as money.

In another game, they have to match the budget with spendings. A block represents the size of budget they pick, and they can match six types of spendings with it, until the weight of the budget they picked will be equal to the total spending. What I liked about this was that each object had different tactile marks, and in general, the different sizes were easy to distinguish. Yet another evidence of how just a little innovation can make a difference in accessibility.

They also have a set of objects they can show visitors which they can touch, to learn about how money evolved, but making it relevant to local history with showing a silver beaver and a beaver pelt.

Generally, I found what I would look for in an accessible program in a museum. I by no means want to say that everything needs to be accessible for all disabilities. It is practically impossible. But what is relevant is when anybody visits a museum, regardless of needs or background, they can find enough things to enjoy, learn from in the spirit of the institution’s exhibit.

As the conclusion of the day, we checked the museum’s digital offerings, of which there is quite a bit. First of all, there is an extensive catalog of the objects held in the museum. There are educational materials, a blog, online resources, and games to learn about money, or the economy of Canada.

When it comes to describing numismatic objects, it is not always possible to take the same approach as to any other web based images. The alternative text has to be concise, yet detailed enough to not only identify an image, but to learn from the content. Together with the content and how image descriptions are placed in there, they have definitely created a useful experience.

I can certainly say that what they have in place is one of the nicest approaches to accessibility in a money museum competing with the Smithsonian. Ok, it is not really a competition. It is the realization that money exhibits in fact do not require vision, and there is a way to make many of the features and concepts accessible.

I was delighted to see that they are not just looking to meet the legal requirements, but work hard on making it an exceptional experience for people with disabilities. Furthermore, what they have is by no means done. The team is working hard on creating more inclusive experiences and stretching the limits of bringing in more tactile solutions. They are tirelessly looking for improvements, based on the feedback they get from their clients.

It was great to be back in Ottawa at the same museum I visited a few years ago knowing that what then was a unique visit they made accessible for me, today they are making it available to people with all disabilities.