One for all: This virtual session aims to build a digitally inclusive heritage sector

Participants at a previously held blindfold sensitisation workshop

Digital spaces have been the focus of art galleries and museums over the last two years when accessing artworks and objects transformed from a physical to a virtual experience. Now, while this sector has rushed back to open its doors, there's no doubt that its online presence has changed, offering more than just updates about exhibitions and visiting hours to become more dynamic and engaging. With the trend set, it is important that digital ‘viewing rooms' - portals created for visitors to explore artworks from across the world in various dimensions continue to thrive. Like physical spaces, virtual ones, too, are inherently designed for able-bodied individuals. Siddhant Shah, access consultant and founder of Access For ALL, highlights the norm of retrofitting digital designs and communication to make it accessible. "But why not design with accessibility in mind?" he asks. Shah will be answering this question with ways on how museums can develop an inclusive online presence, at the workshop GO MMAD - Make Museums Accessible Digitally.

Tactile artwork at the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) by artist Cyrus Kabiru

The workshop, while open to all, is specifically aimed at professionals from the museum and heritage sector including writers, web developers, graphic designers, and software and technology professionals. Topics coveredwill include understanding and reassessing digital design and content with regard to font size, colour contrast, alt texts and screen-reading software, the tactile element of touch translated to digital infrastructures, and how access can be aided and not restricted by auditory and visual mediums. This Zoom workshop will also include accessible content with live captioning, and will be conducted in Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and English. In an effort to make online spaces inclusive for all, Tejshvi Jain, founder-director of ReReeti Foundation that will co-host the workshop, shares, "Barriers to accessibility are of different types - not only physical but also mental barriers that people with disabilities and others face. There are several able-bodied people who still hesitate to enter the museum and heritage space due to economic reasons or their social backgrounds. Our mission is to engage them in a better and more accepting way." To this Shah adds the importance of expanding digital content, saying, "Museums and heritage spaces can move beyond boundaries; we must make content more democratic so that it's not a space that caters to the elite or one section of people, but to all."

Siddhant Shah and Tejshvi Jain

Today, connectivity isn't a challenge. As Shah rightly notes, "Everyone has a phone in their hand." This makes digital spaces front-runners in communication and access. The issue we need to tackle now is ensuring that the technical, intellectual and social infrastructures of virtual spaces are inclusive.

On August 4; 5 pm onwards
Log on to @rereetifoundation on Instagram to register
Free