How can museum visits be made more accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired visitors?

Following an intensive training programme, Selena and Gera, who are both deaf, can give guided tours of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in their native language, which is to say Dutch Sign Language (NGT). This allows deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors to discover the wonderful stories behind the works in the museum and engage in dialogue with the tour guide without having to rely on an interpreter. The Ongehoord Boijmans programme stems from the national Museums in Sign Language project, in which sixteen museums are now taking part. The aim is to make art and culture accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. Museums in Sign Language is a joint initiative by FOAM and WatTelt! Deaf tour guides undergo museum guide training, which introduces them to the theory and practice behind giving guided tours. During the interactive guided tours at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, you can take in a number of artworks under the guidance of one of the museum tour guides. Afterwards, you will have an opportunity to talk to each other during the Signing Café in the museum’s Espresso bar. Even if you did not take part in the tour, you are welcome here.

Ongehoord Boijmans is held every first Sunday of the month from 3pm to 4pm. The guided tours are arranged according to themes and take you through the highlights of the Collection, the Design Collection, or temporary exhibitions. You can also book a private tour for your group at a specific time. In addition, you can request a voice interpreter for some of the guided tours. This means the tour is also accessible to people with a hearing impairment but who would like to be joined by family members or friends who do not have sufficient grasp of Dutch Sign Language.

Although the museum has made a conscious decision to start offering guided tours in NGT, it is investigating the extent to which text-to-speech reporters can be used on guided tours for the hard of hearing and recently deaf people whose command of NGT may not yet be up to scratch. This will make Ongehoord Boijmans accessible to two target groups within the deaf culture. The museum will also be investigating which textual alternatives can be offered for the increasingly frequent audio tours being offered. For example, there was a transcript for the ‘Pure Rubens’ exhibition, and we want to do the same for subsequent exhibitions.