Co-creating Accessible, Immersive Audio Hertiage Experiences

Please Note: Thank you for your interest in this project. The sign-up form is now closed. We will advertise future opportunities to take part in the project on this website and through our other channels. 

The University of York invites you to help shape the future of accessible heritage. We are looking for disabled adults based in North Yorkshire with an interest in history to collaborate on a new immersive audio experience of St Mary’s Abbey, York.

The goal of this project is to learn more about the process of running co-creation workshops in the context of accessible heritage. The workshops are part of a wider PhD research project which is working towards producing a framework for creating accessible, immersive heritage experiences.

The lead researcher is Jess Schofield, who is a PhD student in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York. The project is supervised by Prof Jude Brereton and Dr Anna Bramwell-Dicks, and partnered with York Musuems Trust.

What will the workshops involve?

Workshop participants will work in small groups of approximately five people, alongside researchers from the University of York, and staff from York Museums Trust (YMT). Activities may include:

• Taking an in-person or virtual tour of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey

• Exploring the history of the Abbey with Staff from YMT

• Exploring immersive experiences that currently exist for different sites and discussing their accessibility. This may include immersive audio experiences and virtual reality experiences.

• Discussing access challenges you may have previously encountered, or anticipate encountering when visiting heritage sites.

• Creative activities such as creating paper prototypes or creating storyboards.

There is the opportunity on the Sign-Up Form to describe any access arrangements that you would need to take part in the workshops. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

When are the workshops?

There will be two separate workshop groups. Both will cover the same content, so you only need to join one.
It is important that you plan to attend all three workshops for your chosen group.  

In-person group: Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm at the Yorkshire Museum on: 6 June, 20 June and 4 July

Online group: Tuesdays from 7:00pm-9:00pm on Zoom on: 9 June, 23 June and 7 July

Each workshop lasts 2 hours and includes a short break where tea and coffee will be available. After the final workshop, we will also invite you to a follow-up interview about your experience taking part in the workshops. 

Will I be paid?

Participants in the workshops will receive payment of £27.50 per hour. This means that you will receive £55 for each two-hour workshop.

In person participants can choose to be paid with cash, or with a One4All gift card. 

Online participants will be paid with a One4All gift card.

Please see the University's webpage on Financial Information for Research Participation to find out how this might affect your taxable income or benefits.