Making Natural History Exhibits Multi-Sensory; Improving Learning for Disabled Visitors

波士顿科学博物馆提议对其永久的新英格兰野生动物区展厅进行重大改造，以提高其对视力、听力或行动不便的参观者的有效性。他们将记录并与其他博物馆分享展览发展过程中使用的成功方法和技术，以努力提高全国600多家科学和自然历史博物馆的无障碍通道。博物馆在残障顾问的协助下完成了初步需求评估，为展厅现有立体效果有限的问题制定了替代设计解决方案，并组织了一个设计团队，成员包括博物馆高级展览和教育人员以及一名残障科学家和教育家。麻省艺术学院的适应环境中心将为残疾人提供设计援助，评估将在莱斯利学院项目评估和研究小组负责人乔治·海因的指导下进行。在广泛的设计和评估过程之后，将建造新的展览单位，作为现有立体厅的教育附属设施，并将评估这些变化的影响，作为传播计划的一部分，该计划将包括科普和专业论文以及在科学技术中心协会和美国科学促进会的协助下向科学博物馆展览设计者分发的“如何”工作手册。这是一个具有挑战性的项目，有机会对残疾人产生重大影响，他们往往因不必要的设计限制而被排除在科学和自然历史博物馆的激励和信息资源之外。科学馆的承诺很强，项目人员素质很高，项目中有残障人士的积极参与。

The Museum of Science in Boston proposes a major modification of its permanent New England Wildlife Zones exhibition hall in order to improve its effectiveness with visitors with impaired sight, hearing, or mobility. They will document and share with other museums the successful methods and techniques used in the exhibition development process is an effort to improve barrier free access in the country's more than 600 science and natural history museums. The museum has completed a preliminary needs assessment with the assistance of handicapped consultants, developed alternative design solutions to problems of limited accessibility and effectiveness for the hall's existing dioramas, and organized a design team that includes senior museum exhibition and education staff and a handicapped scientist and educator as Co-PI. The Massachusetts College of Art's Adaptive Environments Center will provide assistance in design for the handicapped and evaluation will be under the direction of George Hein, head of Lesley College's Program Evaluatlion and Research Group. Following an extensive design and evaluation process, new exhibit units will be constructed as educational adjuncts to the existing hall of dioramas, and the impact of the changes will be assessed, as part of a dissemination plan that will include popular and professional papers and a "how to" work book distributed to science museum exhibit designers with the assistance of the Association of Science Technology Centers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is a challenging project with the opportunity for a significant impact on handicapped individuals who are often excluded from the motivational and informational resources of science and natural history museums by unnecessary design limitations. The Museum of Science's commitment is strong, the project staff are highly qualified, and there is active participation by handicapped individuals in the project.