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Wise stones: an interactive accessible circuit designed to enhance the experiences of visitors with disabilities

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Museums, now more than ever before, are committed to the inclusion of all members of society, aiming to promote similar visitor experiences for their various patrons. With the challenging mission of exhibiting and communicating humanity's common heritage, while also preserving it, the creation of an inclusive museum experience is a complex task with multiple dimensions. This article aims to contribute to the field of accessibility in museums by discussing the three main stages of designing the Wise Stones Accessible Circuit, a five-year project which aimed to enhance access at the MM Gerdau Museum in Brazil by creating an interactive tactile exhibit displaying original artifacts from the museum's collection. A participatory methodology was adopted throughout the project in which 37 professionals from multidisciplinary fields at various institutions, and 151 visitors, who performed a formal evaluation of the digital interactives, were involved. Conclusions and implications of designing accessible digital interactives, with feedback from as wide range a of visitors as possible, are presented. Although the project's main goal was to enhance the museum experience for persons with disabilities, it ended up benefitting all visitors.

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Museums Wise stones

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Vaz, R.; Veiga, A.C.R.; Fernandes, Paula O. (2020). Wise stones: an interactive accessible circuit designed to enhance the experiences of visitors with disabilities. In Inclusive Digital Interactives: Best Practices + Research. Access Smithsonian & Institute for Human Centered Design & MuseWeb. Chapter 8, p. 185-218.

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Access Smithsonian & Institute for Human Centered Design & MuseWeb

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