How can you explore archival records – many of which are, by their nature, two-dimensional – without relying on sight? The Education & Outreach department at The National Archives is exploring this in the project ‘Sensing the Archives’. This project has pioneered an educational workshop offered for blind and partially sighted students allowing them to learn about history through the collections at the Archives, and to understand how historians use archives to do research.

‘Sensing the Archives’ is based on a pilot workshop designed specifically for blind and partially sighted students, trialled by a group of students from New College Worcester. The workshop used a variety of sensory tools to let students explore four documents from our collection, including material samples, sound buttons, smell pots, and a soft toy rat. The workshop ended by letting the students touch the original documents, including records touched by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. All worksheets were provided in large print and Braille.

The foundational elements of the workshop were the tactile versions of four documents from our collection created by George Rhodes through his research into creating tactile maps and diagrams using 3D printing. The research focusses on reducing the barriers for creators, using a new process which can convert images into tactile 3D prints. The process does not require any specialist software and is relatively easy to learn. The tactile versions balance accuracy to the original artifacts with customisation to prioritise the tactile experience.
 
This workshop was the culmination of research done by Ellen Oredsson as part of the TNA/RLUK Professional Fellowship Scheme seeking to answer the question: how can we make archives not only accessible but also fun and engaging for visually impaired students?

The talk will focus on the impact of the new workshop and research as well as takeaways for attendees to help improve access for blind users to their own resources. It will aim to equip attendees with a basic understanding of accessibility for blind and partially sighted audiences and how this informed the design of the workshop. It will also aim to give participants a chance to think creatively about how to design activities with blind and partially sighted audiences in mind from the start.