CCAVA’s mission is to develop methods for identifying and connecting existing free-of-cost or low-cost technologies that can be used as accessibility enhancements in visually-oriented educational and aesthetic displays and in other visually-oriented composition projects.
We are grateful for the support of a State University of New York Innovative Instructional Technology Grant (2023-2024) to commence this project. In Fall 2024 CCAVA became a component within SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Design, interdisciplinary Research, Electronics, Arts, and Media (DREAM) research center, which continues to facilitate our endeavors.
In December 2023 and April 2024, CCAVA prototyped two research poster and visual art exhibits with digitally-available enhancements: audio and text digital content linked to gallery website, accessible via QR code positioned on wall and indicated with thumbtack border and floor markers). Having discovered some connectivity issues with poor Wi-fi reception in the interior room gallery, an undergraduate student developed a first iteration of a 3D printed audio-tactile map of the gallery with buttons positioned around its to-scale room perimeter linking approximate location of exhibited artefacts to locally-available audio content. The same student, as part of an interdisciplinary engineering capstone project team, developed a second iteration of the map for use at a third accessibility-enhanced exhibition in April 2025 that, while larger, included an improved sound system with options to listen via internal speaker or headphones, and included numbered Brailled buttons to access the information about each artefact.
In addition, the experience of these three exhibits led to developing iterations of instructions that can be distributed to undergraduate university students and external participants in an open-call exhibit to produce descriptive alt-text and additional artists’ statements emphasizing sensorily-evocative language that is authentic and unique to the creator. We are developing a guide for incorporating these pedagogical tools as well as low-cost, 3D-printed Braille elements into local exhibits to share digitally with the public. Critique of these developments has been provided by members of our community partner organization, the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Utica, New York, and our relationship with them continues as part of the ongoing development of our visually-oriented exhibit enhancement project.
A summer research fellowship afforded a CCAVA faculty member and student the opportunity to experiment with 3D printing Braille artefacts, resulting in prototype versions of transparent Brailled pages for inclusion in self-composed twin-vision books (up to 8x8 inches/160x160 cm) and completely analog refreshable braille labels (character tiles in a hinged holder, up to 270 characters and spaces) for gallery, home, and other use. Producing legible Braille that is haptically pleasing to read has presented multiple challenges, particularly on the thinner pages, but we are preparing to share preliminary instructions and designs soon and will continue to do so as iterations improve.
A third prong of the CCAVA project has been to develop a website optimized for use across visual abilities, i.e. designing WCAG 2.1 compliance from its foundations outward. Two graduate student assistants contributed greatly to this project, constructing a database in consultation with CABVI that will house information about assistive technologies for persons with blindness and low vision and deliver it to audiences in the format of their choice, easily navigable and legible using an audio screenreader, refreshable Braille reader, magnifier, or conventional visual navigation. This website also will be used as a forum for Creative Commons licensed versions of our instructions for creating the items such as those described above, from self-designed and composed analog labels for short descriptions, to single- and group-authored twin-vision books, to accessibility-enhanced research and creative works exhibits providing autonomy in information selection and navigation. With continued support and development, we hope to make the website interactive as well, creating curated forums for users of the database and accessibility-enhancement instructions to exchange comments and information, and ultimately be invited to join in online publishing of their own innovations.