ARTS COUNCIL ATTACHMENT

Accessibility Consultation with the Pelican Project

• Session led by Phil Kingslan John; participants Sam, Georgia, Sheena, Nicky, Izzy, Charlie, Ben & Nicole
• Four of Swords is looking to investigate live streaming theatre that can be accessed digitally and remotely; something that is different from watching a film and is accessible to as many people as possible

Ways in which using technology can assist with accessibility

• Voice notes: holding down one button to send efficient messages as opposed to texting
• Predictive text to speed up writing messages
• Facetime/Whatsapp faster than writing messages
• Using tablets for entertainment
• Linking handheld devices up to TV
• Watching productions and virtual interactive performances without having to navigate the live environment/during lockdowns
• Audiobooks for accessing stories when literacy is challenging
• Learning scripts from using programmes that can read words out loud
• Alexa – to play songs, listen to a radio station, listen to news headlines
  Can be used by users with electronic talkers and understands different speech patterns well
• Electronic talkers for watching tv or films, listening to music, telling jokes, etc.

Issues with accessing technology

• Needing time and space to do a lot of practice
• Needing a bigger screen for visual impairments
• Cost of data to access the internet on the move
• Ben’s electronic talker: not robust so can’t use it in transit or in the rain

Use of subtitles

• Not useful for users with literacy barriers
• Not useful for users with visual impairments
• Audio description is often more useful

Challenges following the action with visual impairments

• Portable vision impairment = difficult to focus directly on a thing
• Difficult to focus on and follow fast-moving action
• One 4OS idea is to give the viewer the ability to choose when to cut to a different angle: Georgia agrees that this could be useful for her 

Duration of films & programmes

• With visual impairments such as portable vision impairment, the additional effort required to focus means that it’s hard to concentrate on long films or programmes
• 30-40 minute programmes are better than long films, or watching a film over a few nights
• Shorter episodes of 15 mins can be useful
• Ability to pause when needed is important
• BUT if it’s something really interesting, it can be engaging for longer (e.g. live shows)

Other engagement techniques

• Music at the start or in the tv programmes can draw you in

Difference in experience between live theatre and remote watching

• Immersive and all around you = more engaging, able to watch for longer
• Physical theatre with less speech – banter and slapstick – is engaging and easier to process for some viewers
• In a live situation it can be stressful trying to navigate other physical aspects (e.g. Georgia talks about trying to keep calm and not fall out of her seat)
• With some processing conditions, viewers can have difficulty with finding things too real and need to know the story first so that they know what’s coming next
• Companions can help, e.g. family members who know to forewarn and remind that it is not real
• Issues with jumpiness because of visual impairment, not seeing people until they are too close
• Georgia comments that she enjoys the theatre experience – likes the noise and excitement – but struggles with it for the above reasons

Audio barriers

• When tired visually, can entertain self with audiobooks and music
• Wearing headphones makes sound slightly clearer
• Difficulties of headphones for users who move around a lot – need to be wireless
• Shared vs private experience: the choice of whether to share what you are listening to, or to keep it private/not impact on those around you
• Sharing music via speakers is difficult remotely e.g. on Zoom

Augmented reality: 360 degree films or ‘perspective of an actor’ experiences (e.g. RSC clip) – are these effective? What are the barriers?

• Issue: needing a fast connection to watch high resolution recordings
• Use of mouse or arrow keys: alternatives are joysticks, or apps where you can connect it to a handheld device and use touch screen to drag it
• Another technique is moving phone around to move view, either on its own or with goggles
• If you haven’t got good sensory integration, this could be very disorientating, especially balance issues – need to get used to it

Perspective of being an actor: RSC clip

• Does it lend anything extra to that scene?
• Easier to have control of the camera so that you can look away from the action when needed
• But can get lost and not know where to focus – might get stuck and have to figure out how to get back to the action
• Issues with controlling the movement with coordination difficulties e.g. dyspraxia, cerebral palsy
• Camera following action might be easier – would be less disorientating because you can focus your attention on the looking, not the moving
• Suggestion: one camera angle, but following character round

• Knowing story well in advance can also help

Lion King stage show example

• Choosing what you look at is useful
• Problems with being scared in really immersive parts?

In terms of experiencing a full story (no matter the length) – would you enjoy it?

• Depends on the context of the performance
• Something like a big shiny musical would work; something like Macbeth would be perhaps too dark (subject wise)
• 3D cinema: people found it annoying after a while – wearing glasses over glasses – perhaps it would feel the same
• Better for shorter things?
• Not shared experience – a better equivalent would be to wear 3D glasses or similar so everyone is immersed in the same way
• Some users would still prefer to watch in private so they could pause when needed, so this wouldn’t necessarily work at a live show
• Silent discos: shared but not – could that be applied to shows?
• Choose your own adventure version? E.g. watch it from POV of different character