Peabody & Essex Museum

Peabody Essex Museum will expand and refine Access App, a prototyped open-source mobile application intended to increase accessibility to museum collections by adding video capture capabilities, improve the usability of the interface, and make the entire platform easily reusable by other cultural institutions. The museum will partner with several organizations and employ the services of a consulting firm to crowdsource verbal descriptions, American Sign Language video content, and translations into other spoken and signed languages. This project will also add to the museum's body of accessible mobile content enabling individuals with disabilities to fully experience the collections, engage visitors who bring smartphones and tablets to museums, and provide a platform that any museum can use to tailor its own content.