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>>JESSICA JONES: Is there anyone
in the audience that has any questions?
>> I have a question for Olivia
from the Guggenheim.
Would you mind talking more about the self-guided
multimedia tour?
So if I walk into a museum, does it have in a way functions,
things like that?
>>OLIVIA SWISHER: So with all technology
comes evaluation.
So we launched this and we tried our best
to really incorporate navigation within the --
within the multimedia guide.
When we launched the app, we had a series
of four focus groups actually come in from the blind
and low vision community and test
the app and give us feedback because we're continually
developing it.
One of the biggest concerns was
actually navigation.
Because if you've been to the Guggenheim before,
it's a pretty complicated building.
It's one of our biggest struggles.
But we do have navigation on there.
It's just we're still working it out.
One of the things we do say though
when you're listening to the multimedia guide
is that posted through the galleries
of the museum are gallery guides who are security guards
who actually have been trained to again provide verbal
descriptions and also to help people.
They help everybody.
They're security guards.
So when someone has a question or needs assistance,
they're there to provide that so it gives you
that human interaction.
But it's something we're challenged
by and continually thinking about.
If you were to enter the museum today,
if you showed up, you would walk
through the museum.
You would go through the admissions line.
And then next to the admissions line
is the audio guide check out.
The people who are distributing those
will ask you which type of tour you would like to go on,
and they will set that up for you.
And so you would probably say I'd like to go
on the verbal description tour and they could set that
up for you and get you started.
Again, there are navigational cues but I will be honest
and say they're not ideal and we're working on it.
We're bringing in consultants for it.
But it's there.
We're trying.
Does that answer your question?
>>OLIVIA SWISHER: Okay, great.
>>FROM THE AUDIENCE: Do I need to make
an appointment for the tour?
Or just walk in?
>>OLIVIA SWISHER: No.
You just show up and check it out.
And then send me some feedback.
>>FROM THE AUDIENCE: I'm just curious about -- I know
the Museum of Modern Art I think it's that
museum that has on their regular audio tour,
they have -- they have either you can get it
for the general public or on the same machinery you can
get it for a person who is visually impaired.
I think it's true.
I remember using it.
>> That is true.
>>FROM THE AUDIENCE: At the Met, I don't remember
if they have that.
I don't think so.
>>REBECCA MCGINNIS: At the Met we don't have
descriptive stops for works of art on the audio guide
with the exception of the Egyptian touch tour.
There's a touch tour in the Egyptian galleries that
you can do.
If you'd like an educator to have
a guided experience you can.
But you can also just drop in and pick up the audio guide.
There's also a book in large print, and in Braille.
The audio is another way of getting that information.
So there are descriptive stops on the audio guide
for the pieces on the touch collection.
That's all right now.
We do descriptive tours by request
with an educator otherwise for now.
>>FROM THE AUDIENCE: But as somebody said, it's great
to be able to walk around by yourself.
>>REBECCA MCGINNIS: Absolutely.
>>FROM THE AUDIENCE: Especially people who are
partially sighted it's probably easier than
for people who aren't.
But is there any chance that in the future there could be?
>>REBECCA MCGINNIS: Yes.
It's certainly something that we're looking at.
One challenge we face, and other museums face
as well, is -- I certainly find this
personally as a partially sighted person.
If I want the audio stop, I can't read the number
on the label that tells me what to punch
in to get the information.
There's that very seemingly simple obvious barrier that
with technology we can change.
And the Met is actually undergoing quite
a few changes right now in terms of how
the audio content is delivered.
It's definitely something we're looking at now and hoping
to incorporate and make that process easier in the future.
But it will be a little while.
>>FROM THE AUDIENCE: About how many people
in the programs -- >>OLIVIA SWISHER: The question was
how many people do our programs host a year?
Okay, cool.
Good question.
For the Guggenheim with our blind sight program,
it's about 40 a month.
So times 12 -- I'm really bad at math.
But what is that?
I'm really terrible at math.
(Laughter.) About 500.
That's kind of what the numbers we're working on.
>>MELANIE ADSIT: I also work in a museum
because I'm terrible at math.
(Laughter.) But basically our numbers are very similar.
We have monthly programs that go from anywhere to six
or seven people on a beautiful sunny day where
everybody wants to be outside to 30 or 40 when it's
a good exhibition everybody wants to see.
That happens a lot.
>>REBECCA MCGINNIS: For the Met, across a variety
of by request and scheduled programs, not including
the drop in touch tour because we don't have
numbers for that.
We don't keep numbers for that.
But with the scheduled and by request programs,
I think it's about 1400 a year across all of those.
>>BRIGID CAHALAN: What did I forget to say?
You may have wondered why we have three representatives
from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
But really they have a very extensive program.
Not that the Whitney and Guggenheim don't.
But the Metropolitan I think is something we all aspire to,
the Library included, because they involve so many
different populations, so many forms of access.
So I think we've learned something from each
of them today.
And they've all done a wonderful job.
And naturally you'll have the rest of the afternoon
to speak to them if there are other questions that
come up in your mind.
One thing I neglected to say, you're in a library.
We welcome you to become a member
of the library if you're not already.
If you're legally blind, you can become a member
of the Andrew Heiskell Library.
You can do that today.
And if you're not, you can get your library card
as well.
So don't forget to do that.