Inclusive Action Group

Meeting 10

Inclusive Interpretation

Holly Lodge Centre, Richmond Park: March 11th 2005

Following on closely from our Accessible Information IAG last November, IAG 10 on Inclusive Interpretation took a closer look at how to develop trails and the sensory elements of interpretation provision which are essential to meet the needs of all visitors to parks and open spaces.

An inclusive approach to interpretation recognises that some people will have quite different needs from others. Our view at Sensory Trust is that an inclusive approach is defined by one fundamental goal, and that is equality of experience for everyone. It was therefore fitting that we met at the Holly Lodge Centre in Richmond Park, London. The centre provides an opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy and learn from a series of hands on experiences focusing on the rich natural environment in Richmond Park. As with all IAG gatherings one of our members was host for the day. Pat Ealey has been running the Holly Lodge Centre for the past 10 years (read more from her below).

The day was based on a series of talks and an afternoon outdoor session using an accessible nature trail as a platform for discussing new interpretation methods.

Opening Act

The day was kicked off by Mike Fitt, Director of Royal Parks and Simon Richards, Richmond Park Manager. They began by asking ‘What are Royal Parks?’. For them they are all about history, green lung functions, wildlife, London, there for all of us. There are 8 parks in all. Mike described the strong local opposition in the early days to encouraging wider access to the parks.

Richmond Park, a Grade 1 listed landscape, has 2 million visits a year which makes it comparable to major visitor attractions in London. It’s a medieval deer park therefore deer have really shaped the landscape. It is also a precious natural resource – in the top 5 UK sites for ancient trees, invertebrates, and acid grassland.

Below are the brief transcripts from the talks and sessions held on the day:

Pat Ealey, Holly Lodge Centre

About the centre

The Holly Lodge Centre has been going for 10 years. We have 60 very committed volunteers (some who have been here for all of those 10 years). We try to involve disabled volunteers as much as possible. The centre also consults with a Park Users Forum for ideas to develop the work of the centre.

Who visits?

All kinds of people, ages ranging from 3 to 100. Disabilities include learning, physical, autistic, dementia, elderly, visual, and hearing. We have many repeat visits, some every month.

What is our basic philosophy?

• Treat everyone as special
• Tune in to their disability and needs
• Adapt activities
• Build on regular groups activities – vast improvements over one year
• Realise that some people are angry about their situation
• Accept people as they are

Activities at the centre

Richmond Park is a fantastic backdrop for the centre. We use the outdoor environment, because it can be very different from where visitors come from, a real change from their urban, often internal environment. Activities are based around: bird trails using RSPB ‘squeezy’ soft toy birds to educate people on bird sounds, nest building, simple crafts, nature trails, mini beasts, pond dipping, tree trails, feeding stations, a Victorian classroom, use of smells e.g. lavender.

People that visit always leave with something, the day before the IAG meeting visitors had made small clay models of birds, and they went back on the bus with them.

Julia Ionides, The Dog Rose Trust

Sound, touch, books, and accessible collections

Think about sound – not noise that is something different. Sound is all around us but noise blots it out – excludes the sound of our surroundings, the acoustic spaces – these sound clues or icons are particularly important for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Noise pollution – we tend not to hear it when it is around us everyday. We live in a fairly quiet place and went to do an audio course in Manchester recently. We said to the group that it was noisy in the city and they seemed surprised, they were so used to it they did not notice it any more.

It is only when you are in a completely quiet place that you notice the sound and the silence.

Cultural and heritage sites often seem to be afraid to use sound. Why? Historically the environment has always been noisy but not continuously, mainly with traffic, as it is today. There would have been a pattern of sound – starting with dawn, getting louder towards the middle of the day and diminishing at dusk when people could no longer see to work or be outside. The dark would have been punctuated by animal sounds, perhaps bells from the church or a striking clock. The sounds would have had a clarity that it is hard to appreciate today.

We are currently producing a book about our work. Entitled ‘Another Eyesight: Multi-Sensory Design in Context’, by myself and Peter Howell, this book covers the work of the Dog Rose Trust over the past 20 years, focusing on Universal and Multi-Sensory Design. Much of our work has been in sound and the book covers everything from recording techniques to community audio. There are also sections on tactile models and outdoor interpretation. This book will be available from the Dog Rose Trust in May 2005.

Download our checklist to creating Accessible Collections (Word format, 56K) – If you want to do something to make your collections more accessible to everyone, but don't know what to do then this could be useful. This checklist could apply to both indoor and outdoor environments.

See also:

• http://www.audioforall.org.uk
• http://www.dogrose-trust.org.uk

Ruth Hayhurst, Freelance Writer and Interpreter

Walks for visually-impaired visitors in Regent’s Park

For the past 3 years I have been developing a programme of interpretative guided walks in the royal parks, e.g. St James’s and Kensington Gardens. Last year I was asked to think about interpretative walks specifically for people with a visual impairment, in Regent’s Park. Below is what I learned from going through this process.

Learning the lessons

Planning

• Themes improve all guided walks but are particularly useful in giving structure to guided walks for visually-impaired visitors.
• Organised, Relevant, Enjoyable (Sam Ham’s TORE model) are also essential.
• Early testing with blind visitors is vital. The pilot walks went through many changes following feedback from visually-impaired testers.
• Planning takes longer than you expect. This is true for all guided walks but there are more things to think about with walks for visually-impaired visitors.
• Surfaces can be features as well as hazards. People with sight difficulties aren't delicate: they do not have to walk all the time on wide tarmac paths or be warned constantly about hazards. Going over grass, up slopes and over gravel make a walk more interesting so build this into a route.

Booking procedures

• Adequate joining information is crucial. How your visitors get to the park is the first hurdle they face. Beware that many park entrances have both local and official names.
• The meeting place must be unique. It must be easy to find by taxi or public transport. It is helpful if there are seats and toilets nearby and to point them out in advance.
• You need a failsafe contact phone number for the walk leader in case visitors can’t find the start.
• Setting expectations is vital. This is very important for all good interpretative guided walks – but it is particularly relevant for people with a visual impairment.

Delivery

• Visually impaired people navigate by sound and ground surface so wide open spaces in parks can be difficult. Never leave your visitors stranded.
• Guiding. You need to know what to tell a blind person and when. Always warn about steps and say whether they are “up” or “down”. There are also issues of personal space and skin-skin contact but talking solves most problems.
• Groups need to be small. Three visitors per guide is a realistic maximum unless you are very experienced or have microphone and ear piece technology.
• Simple physical props are vital. They’re fun, interesting and fill in lots of gaps.
• Keep the walk simple and organised. A tactile map and a brief description of the walk are useful. Too much detail becomes confusing.
• Be flexible about how much you can do. Like all walkers, people with a visual impairment have varied ages, backgrounds and levels of fitness.

Language

• Make your words work harder. Descriptions must relate things to the experience of your visitors.
• But beware of assumptions. Some descriptions (like Y-shaped, for example) may not make sense to a blind visitor.
• And don’t be over-sensitive. You don’t need to avoid words, such as “see” or “look”. Many blind people have some experience of colour.

Benefits for all

All guided walks could benefit from the lessons learned during this project.

Karen McDonald, Freelance Interpreter and Sensory Trust

In this session we looked at planning a self-guided trail, using an accessible nature trail at the centre. The trail is currently without visual interpretation. Pat does all of the interpretation verbally with groups out on site, and she was keen to hear all of the suggestions for developing interpretation and for enabling people to go round the trail alone.

Armed with maps and points of interest to note, IAG attendees did a circuit in groups, and the results of this session are noted below (note: not all suggestions were on the theme of interpretation, therefore we have shortened the list a bit):

Interpretation suggestions

• Handrails at steps could include tactile features.
• Empower people to do the trail on their own – important to consider security (people being able to feel their way round and including orientation information would help).
• Move seating closer to the path provide sculptural element to trail.
• Reduce height of information panels for people in wheelchairs.
• Improve access to the old oak tree and sculpture.
• Provide orientation information at the entrance.
• Change the surface texture of the path to highlight points of interest.
• Create tactile elements in fallen logs (carvings etc)
• Provide a tactile map and corresponding panels
• Provide audio explanations of bird sounds (huge variety of birds in the park)

Trails

• Poet Tree Trail – Collect names around the trail, create poetry at the end. This will change with the seasons.
• The trail as an accessible ‘taster’ of the park – describe features of the wider park within the trail area - to get a sense of the vast expanse of parkland.

Future Developments

IAG meeting 10 was the first time we opened up our usual meetings to our mailing list, and it was lovely to see so many new people there. At the meeting we asked for ideas on new venues and themes for the Inclusive Action Group. We will be carrying on with the format of 4 gatherings a year, encompassing meetings, site visits, training days, and conferences, but we’d like to hear from any members who would like to host an IAG or contribute to future gatherings. As always the Inclusive Action Group is there for people to discuss issues, form partnerships, and to work towards more inclusively designed outdoor spaces.

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