The Tactile Universe: Accessible Astrophysics Public Engagement With The Vision Impaired Community
TalkTeaching with astronomy exhibits
3rd Shaw-IAU Workshop
Wednesday Oct. 13, 2021
UTC: 4:20 p.m. - 4:40 p.m. America/New_York: 12:20 p.m.- 12:40 p.m.
Thursday Oct. 14, 2021
UTC: 6:50 a.m. - 7:10 a.m. America/New_York: 2:50 a.m.- 3:10 a.m.
Nicolas Bonne (Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth)
Astronomy is a topic that engages and inspires a wide range of audiences around the world, but blind and vision impaired people can often find it difficult to engage with the subject due to its very visual nature. The Tactile Universe is an award winning public engagement project based at the University of Portsmouth which is opening up current topics in astrophysics research to blind and vision impaired people through accessible tactile resources based on real data. We will discuss how involving the vision impaired community in the development of these resources has made them truly unique and versatile.
About Nicolas Bonne
Originally from Australia, Dr Nic Bonne is a vision impaired astronomer with a background in galaxy research. He currently works in the UK as a Public Engagement and Outreach Fellow at the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. Dr Bonne is a co-founder of, and currently leads the Tactile Universe public engagement project, which is developing resources and activities to help vision impaired students across the UK and internationally access current topics in astronomy. He also consults on a number of vision impaired accessible projects both nationally and internationally.
Watch a recording of this talk (external link)
