Department of Cultural Affairs

By Yali Chen
 
In Taipei, 3 out of 1,000 people are intellectually disabled. When they visit museums and galleries their disability prevents them from fully acquiring the knowledge offered by such institutions. How could the city government help them access the artistic and cultural information available at such places?
 
The answer came on September 4 when the Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) launched the Easy-to-Read Design Guidebook meant to help cultural institutions in Taipei and around the country to offer information in easy language.
 

Photo from DOCA
Taipei City Deputy Mayor Tsai Bing-kuen (second from left), Tsai Tsung-hsiung (first from right), Commissioner of Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, and Chen Chieh-ju (second from right), Executive Director of the Parents’ Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability in Taiwan (中華民國智障者家長總會) at the launch of the Easy-to-Read Guidebook on September 4.

This is Taiwan’s first easy-to-read guidebook to help arts and cultural venues raise the level of their information accessibility. Such a guidebook enables those with learning disabilities enhance their absorption of its content of and better understand explanatory handouts, the items on exhibit, and the descriptions of such exhibits.
 
In the first stage of developing this easy-to-read system, the DOCA selected the Kishu An Forest of Literature in Taipei, Li Kwoh-ting’s Residence, and Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Garden as the venues where easy-to-read guidebooks are made available.
 
“Easy to read is our way of implementing a policy of inclusion, making information easier to understand and use,” said Taipei City Deputy Mayor Tsai Bing-kuen (蔡炳坤).
 
“The city government launched this Accessible Information Project to help those with learning disabilities feel more capable of acquiring information at these venues.”
 
Protecting the rights of the intellectually challenged
 

Photo from DOCA
People with learning disabilities are guided to visit the Kishu An Forest of Literature in Taipei.

 
Taipei City Yangming Home for the Disabled initiated this project, and gained the support of the Department of Labor, Department of Information and Tourism, Department of Social Welfare, the and Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation.
 
The DOCA then got to work on the guidebook design this year, Tsai said.
 
Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如), Executive Director of the Parents’ Association for Persons with intellectual Disability in Taiwan said that someone with an I.Q. below 70 is considered as having a learning disability. Chen is the mother of a mentally disabled child.
 
People with disabilities should be able to exercise the same rights other people have to freedom of expression through all means of communication of their choice.
 
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) protects their freedom of expression and right to information. Article 21 says that states should “take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice”.
 
“People with a learning disability tell us that simple words, short sentences, the size of the writing, bullet points, and pictures can help them better understand information,” Chen said.
 
In recent years, arts and cultural venues in Taipei have awakened to the importance of providing people with disabilities and their families with easy-to-read guidebooks. They thus feel included and visit galleries and museums by themselves.
 
The texts, bullet points, pictures and colors of the three booklets can help people with mild autism and mental retardation to understand the information, Chen said. After reading them several times, they could even serve as volunteers to guide other visitors through the arts and cultural venues.
 
Use easy words and pictures
 

Photo from DOCA
One young man with a learning disability touches a wooden pillar of the Kishu An Forest of Literature in Taipei.
 

How are such content made accessible to those with learning disability? The DOCA said that they use everyday words and avoid jargons or acronyms. It replaces complicated and difficult phrases with easy words and pictures. The welcome messages are positive in tone and not impersonal nor negative.
 
For example, instead of having signs that say “No Littering”, association director Lin Hsing-chun (林幸君) says it would be better to write: “Please throw the trash into the trash can,”  
 
How do the arts and cultural institutions organize the content of their accessible guidebooks? They follow several key rules: Use short and concise sentences. Have one idea per paragraph. Group together information on the same topic. Use color, bold and large fonts to highlight information.
 
Images serve to illustrate the meaning of words. Use symbols, pictures, photos, and drawings. Combine primary, secondary, and auxiliary colors to distinguish different meanings. Use different colors for quick reference.
 

Photo from DOCA
For three decades, Li Kwoh-ting used the briefcase on page 14 in the guidebook
to Li Kwoh-ting’s Residence.

 
Li Kwoh-ting was former Taiwanese minister of economics and finance. In the booklet of his residence, designers applied green, light blue, dark blue, red, purple, and orange to separate a dining room, living room, bedroom, entrance, his study, and his wife’s study on the floor plan of his home.
 
Lin suggested that such booklets be limited to no more than 20 pages and contain interactive games and worksheets.
 
Ask for feedback
 
Complicated wording is a barrier for disabled visitors, excluding them from independent participation in a society’s cultural life. The easy-to-understand guidebook is a good tool for greater inclusion. Seniors and children could also find them useful.
 
“Most importantly, ask disabled visitors for feedback to ensure that your booklet really helps them understand the information and enjoy it,” said Lin.
 
To get it right, test them with real visitors. Produce a draft edition, ask a panel to review, and revise. The arts and cultural institutions could invite members of an organization for the intellectually disabled organization to try out their booklets, and suggest improvements.
 
The Kishu An Forest of Literature off Tongan Street in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District was once a refined Japanese restaurant during the Japanese Occupation from 1895 to 1945. The complex was turned into dormitories in the 1950s and then abandoned after being partially destroyed by fire.
 
In 2011, the Taiwan Literature Development Foundation restored and managed the burned-out wooden building. It has become a cultural center where visitors can come to enjoy good books, meet and talk with authors, and learn about the role books have played in the development of the local community.
 
The Japanese-style historical building is the theme of the easy-to-read guidebook to the Kishu An Forest of Literature. The guidebook contains one idea per page and images run across two page spreads, with colors and numbers. It also contains interactive games meant to help people with intellectual disabilities to better understand the information and enjoy their visit.
 
A nostalgic venue
 
Li Kwoh-ting’s home lay within quiet alleys on Taian Street in Taipei. After he passed away in 2001, the city government listed the Japanese-style building as a municipal historical site.
 
Visitors to Li’s Residence are usually filled with nostalgia. His life is a fitting theme for a guidebook that seeks to connect with the daily life of people with intellectual disabilities.
 
Designers used objects and stories to illustrate Li’s character. For example, he was very thrifty and always tightened wobbly chairs with ropes. When he travelled overseas on official visits, he collected matchboxes from hotels and airports to give to his son as a gift.
 

Photo from DOCA
The picture on page 7 in the guidebook to Li Kwoh-ting’s Residence shows that Li was very thrifty. He always used ropes to tighten wobbly chairs.

 
Li’s Residence uses wall stickers to guide disabled visitors through the building. One sticker with chickens and dogs conveys that Li and his wife were born in the Year of the Rooster and Dog, respectively. These two animals are considered the mascots of the family.
 
The Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Garden is Taiwan’s first cultural ecological park. Its guidebook has a series of illustrations that show the details of different plants. People with intellectual disabilities are guided to touch a big tree, collect fallen leaves, and recognize the smell of plants.
 
In the first half of next year, the DOCA will complete the easy-to-read guidebooks of five cultural institutions, including the Lin Yutang House, Sun Yun-suan’s Residence, Ximen Red House, Mayor’s Residence Arts Salon, and Futai Street Mansion. Within three years, DOCA will finish the booklets of the other cultural institutions in the capital. The entire project is meant to give visitors with intellectual disabilities an enjoyable time and full participation in arts and cultural events.