School of Creative
Industries
Kessler Nicole Ann Su-En
Nicole Kessler is an aspiring project manager with varied experiences and love for the creative industries. Fuelled by passion, she is a quick learner and a goal-driven individual who is always up for new challenges and adventures. Prior to pursuing her studies in LASALLE, she took a gap year to broaden her skill set and gain experience by working in various agencies and arts organisations. As a digital design diploma holder, she is well versed with design, layout and typography. She is particularly keen in the aspects of project management and digital marketing. Her past works include assisting in marketing for the 2020 Silver Arts Festival by the National Arts Council and overseeing marketing and design for LASALLE’s 2019 Rock and Indie Festival. When she's not pushing pixels, she enjoys visiting museums, photography and drinking coffee.
Thesis abstract
Understanding accessibility in Singapore museums for visitors with visual impairment
This dissertation was conducted to explore and understand the accessibility and inclusivity of museums in Singapore, specifically for visitors with visual impairments. Over the years, the topic of inclusion of people with disabilities has garnered more interest and concern. Although there have been some efforts to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities, more can be done specifically for persons with visual impairments. People with visual impairments are discouraged from visiting museums because their experience is minimal due to the various obstacles and barriers that they face regarding accessibility. From buildings that are hard to navigate, inaccessible exhibitions and programmes that may not have been designed for those with visual impairments to staff members who may not have been trained in this area.
Through a mixed methods research which comprised of interviews and surveys, this research hopes to understand the efforts and development of creating an inclusive museum for persons with visual disabilities – using the Singapore Art Museum’s Touch Collection as a case study – by analysing the current programme and its impact on the visually impaired community so far. Results showed that the lack of assistive technology, accessible exhibitions and information about accessibility as well as the lack of awareness from staff about accessibility were amongst the few that were ranked the highest in terms of barriers faced by persons with visual impairments. The SAM Touch Collection serves as a step towards museums being more inclusive programming-wise. However, more can be done to integrate persons with visual impairment into the main museum audience.