North West SLCs and local arts venues work to enable independent navigation of their sites
Blind and partially sighted (BPS) visitors to Ordsall Hall and Salford Museum and Art Gallery in Greater Manchester can now navigate both sites independently thanks to in-app audio descriptions created with North West Sight Loss Councils (SLCs).
Now, anyone visiting either of these attractions can download the Smartify app. This contains in-app audio description, as well as navigation to get from room to room. Sight Loss Councils supported this project, along with local sight loss charity Henshaws and audio description company Minds Eye.
In this short video, SLC members Anthony, Naomi and James share their experiences of trying out the audio description app at Salford Museum and Art Gallery, and Ordsall Hall. The video also shows images of SLC members trying out the app inside the hall when visiting the exhibits.
About the audio description and navigation project
Last April, Ordsall Hall and Salford Museum and Art Gallery were awarded Arts Council England funding to make the visitor experience more inclusive. Following this, over the past few months, SLC members from Merseyside SLC and Greater Manchester SLC have then visited both sites.
SLC members aimed to advise both venues on how to best describe navigation. They also selected which museum and artwork elements to include in the audio description. Additionally, as the project developed, members also tried out various apps, to determine which platform would work best for BPS people.
Merseyside SLC volunteer Naomi Ditchfield and her guide dog standing in front of blue mosaic tiling
Victoria Howarth, Learning and Engagement Manager for the museums, said about the impact of working with SLCS to increase accessibility:
“Sight Loss Councils’ contribution to the ‘Unlocking the Collections’ project at Ordsall Hall and Salford Museum and Art Gallery has been profound. They were very generous with their time and were honest and open about their experiences in our venues.
“Participants helped us identify what to include in our digital audio described tours, highlighted potential hazards, and assisted our audio describer Anne Hornsby to create the wayfinding element of the tours. They also helped us select the app and conducted user testing.
“It was non-negotiable from the start that we should have people with lived experience of sight loss as part of this project. We simply would not have been able to create these tours without the support of Sight Loss Councils. They provided great feedback, and their positivity when inevitable glitches with technology occurred was greatly appreciated. It was very useful working with people with a variety of levels of sight as it really makes you think more broadly about how we can make our buildings and exhibitions more accessible. We hope the results of our partnership work will enhance the experience of visitors to both venues for many years to come.”
Greater Manchester SLC volunteer Anthony Gough stood wearing headphones listening to the audio descriptions
Greater Manchester Sight Loss Council volunteer, Abu Bakr Ishtiaq, shared:
“It has been a real success. It’s so easy to do, you can take your own headphones and phone, download the app and off you go.
“It was really useful to be able to listen to the app and it would tell me how many steps to take and in which direction to get to the next stop on the audio described tour.”
Greater Manchester SLC volunteer Abu standing with his phone in his hand accessing the audio descriptions
Merseyside Sight Loss Council volunteer, Mick Spriggs added:
“I am really proud to be part of this project. It’s been great to see how this had developed over the year – and I would encourage other blind and partially sighted people to go along. We really hope you enjoy it.”
Engagement Manager for the North West, Kelly Barton, finalised by saying:
“This has been a great project to be involved in and is a fantastic example of how we get the best results when organisations work in partnership.
“It’s brilliant to think that as a result of this work, BPS visitors can now go into the museum or Ordsall Hall and access the exhibits independently.
“I tried this for the first time last week and I loved the fact that I didn’t need anyone to guide me or read things out to me – I could just go round on my own. I’m pleased that we can empower more BPS people to be independent and I encourage more museums and arts organisations to do the same.”
Links to partners involved in this project:
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Publication date: 16 April 2025