All the right notes: Part Three

What’s in the design?

Aside from the practicalities of colour contrast, font types and sizes and physical parameters such as reach ranges, cones of vision etc. your visitor communication will stand or fall on the basis of how well you consider the following:

Layering – for example, using a range of different media (e.g. panels, audio trail, visitor centre touchscreen interactive) to communicate the same message.

Hierarchy – this refers to the arrangement of information in a logical and intuitive manner. On a panel, for example, there should be a single, relevant catchy title, a short introductory paragraph encapsulating the key theme or story and then further bits of body text for those wishing to read further. Captions on images can also help to communicate the story.

Tactility – providing opportunities for touching and feeling not only benefits people with visual impairments but provides a means of engagement for a much broader audience. Think about using etched zinc, brass or relief cast resin and bronze. Braille can easily be incorporated as well. Carry around vacuum formed plastic relief maps for people with visual impairment.

Interactivity – for the doers in your audience, try and offer opportunities to interact (e.g. lift flaps, revealer wheels, tumbler blocks, wind up audio, stamps incorporated within the framing of a graphic panel).

Being thematic – having a single central theme or message will help people to remember the things that you want them to remember, feel what you want them to feel and do what you want them to do.

Provoking, relating, revealing – the three touchstones of interpretation are that it should provoke thoughts and emotions in people; it should be relate by using examples and experiences familiar to the audience, and it should reveal underlying truths about the site or subject without necessarily communicating all the facts and figures.

Fun – an often overlooked element of design. Remember that people are spending their leisure time on your site and they have not necessarily come here to learn lots of stuff, but to be entertained and amused.

If you have been following this spread out series on Universal Design you might have picked up that there is a slight variance in how this idea is applied in the sphere of visitor communication compared with its application in other areas such as architecture and product design. In these cases the main drive is often (though not exclusively) around physical usability. In these contexts the main thrust is to provide solutions that are ‘all for one and one for all’ (or put another way, one size fits all).

In visitor communication the picture is a bit more complicated not least because, as we have discussed, people have a range of learning abilities, interests, emotions, knowledge and experiences which need to be borne in mind.

So, yes we can be ‘universal’ in some areas, such as minimum point sizes, colour contrasts etc., but in other areas we need to look to providing choice, and through choice, equality of opportunity. In this sense we can ensure that our visitor communication is universally accessible.

Here endeth the third and final lesson…

Matthew Jones
Project Manager & Consultant