Dear Sir / Madam,

Hello, I am a distance-learning student working with the University of Leicester in the UK on a museum and Gallery master’s degree.

I am currently in the final stages of my master’s degree dissertation and I am looking at how museums can use new technology to help access by the deaf and hard of hearing audience. My particular focus is on the usage of video BSL/ASL tours for exhibitions and museums. These are not in widespread usage and I want to know why.

These tours can be seen at the Tate Modern in London, Great Blacks in Wax in Boston, The Lawn Tennis Museum in Wimbledon, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Staircase House Museum in Stockport amongst others around the world.

I am interested in hearing from people that have used these tours as well as those that haven’t and can tell me what they think of the technology and how useful it is as an aid access by the deaf community. I have very kindly been given the opportunity to contact you via the Stockport disability forum webmaster. Please be assured that your contact details have not been passed to me and there is no obligation to reply however if you choose to reply I would very grateful and your response will add greatly to my research.

There are two sets of questions - one for those that have used these tours and one for those that have not. I would be grateful if you can answer as many of the questions as possible, I would also appreciate as much detail as possible. Also if you have anything to say on this subject be if for the technology or against, please let me know. I am looking for an authentic users voice to present the real situation for deaf users of museums and galleries and how well museums are addressing any difficulties.

If you have used a tour

Please think about the following questions -

Did the staff of the museum seem to be aware of the video tours?

Did the tour sit within a good access plan i.e. were there BSL/ASL speakers around, subtitles available?

Did the tour add to your visit?

Was the tour easy to use?

Did the tour seem useful?

If you had visited the museum before, did the tour solve any difficulties you experienced before?

Overall do you feel BSL/ASL video tours are useful?

Are video tours something you want to see more widespread in the heritage sector?

What changes could museums make that would aid your enjoyment of exhibitions?

If you have not used a tour

Are you aware of video BSL/ASL tours?

Are there recurrent problems you find when visiting museums which might be solved by video tours?

What changes could museums make that aid you enjoyment of exhibitions?

Please send your replies to me at km109@leicester.ac.uk. Due to deadline restrictions, I would be very grateful if you could reply as soon as possible. I would be very grateful if you could indicate in your reply if you would like your responses to be anonymous in the dissertation and also if you would be willing to be contacted if I had any further questions based on your replies.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries regarding this research.

Yours

Katy