Wayfinding system for the blinds in the museum

This paper explains how wayfinding system helps museum visitor to understand the information given in a museum. Museum user itself have a varied background of visitors, including people with disability such as blind people. As a public space, museum generally provide certain information for their visitors. Such information can be understood by visitors in different ways, therefore, visitors tend to move independently to understand the information given in the museum. To accommodate the needs of all visitors, adjustments are needed in the museum so that the museum can be accessed by all visitors. In this case, a wayfinding system appears to direct museum visitors when they are exploring the museum. The purpose of the wayfinding system itself does not only provide direction for a person to move, but also to understand the environment in which they are in. In general, the wayfinding system is presented visually, but for those who have visual disability it requires the use of other sensory to understand the wayfinding system. Therefore, an adjusted wayfinding system in the museum must be present optimally so that it can be accessed by all visitors including those with visual disability.


Introduction
According to Matitaputy [1], the Museum is an institution that functions, without seeking profit, serves the community and its development, is open to the community, obtained, cared for, connects and exhibits for the purposes of study, education and recreation, humans inheritance and their environment. Due to the status of the museum which is a public facility and the information contained in the museum, museum visitors may diverse from major to minor society, including those with special needs such as blind people. Based on this understanding, it can be explained that accessibility is an important element needed in museums to accommodate the needs of visitors. The accessibility itself should be considered not only from physical access, but also intellectual access for museum visitors [2]. The intellectual accessibility provides in the museum will help museum visitors comprehend information inside the museums better.
Information given in a museum is presented visually in general [3]. This results in, not all visitors can access the information given in a museum, especially for those who are visually disabled. Those who are visually disabled are more likely to respond the information given with their sensory senses other than their visual [4]. The use of all sensory to visitors who are visually disabled will be used to identify his position based on what surround him as well as to understand the display information given in a museum [5]. So, in order to accommodate the needs of visually disabled visitors in a museum, the wayfinding system which is a form of effort in directing, understanding the context, and understanding the information given in an area, can be a way to facilitate visitors in accessing a building, including a museum. The wayfinding system in the museum itself can consist of directional sign, location sign, 2 directories or sites map board, and also the explanation display of an exhibited objects that can be presented in the form of symbols, text, numbers, and audio [6]. Therefore, in order to make the museum accessible to every visitor, it is necessary to have a wayfinding system that can be accessed by all sensories and not only focusing on visual presentation so that information given in the museum can be understood and accessed to its fullest potential.

Research Objective
The purpose of this paper is to find out the role of architecture, especially a museum, in fulfilling the needs of understanding information for visitor who are visually disabled by the presence of a wayfinding system. Then, also to understand how the wayfinding system can be a way for individuals to receive information at the museum despite having visual disability. Through this writing, the authors hope to find out more about the wayfinding system in fulfilling the needs of information for individual with visual impairments in a museum.

Literature Review
The Museum is a permanent non-profit institution established to serve the community and its development, open to the public, whose job is to collect, preserve, research, communicate, exhibit evidence of human legacy and its environment both tangible and intangible for study, education and pleasure purposes [7]. Based on this understanding, museums are public facilities that should be accessible to all people without exception. In order to make a museum inclusive, it is necessary for a museum to have some adjustment on the architecture design itself to accommodate the needs of its visitors. Coleman [3] cites Sandell's statement that, a museum must be accessible to all visitors in order to clarify the museum's social objectives and the value they provide with respect to existing social issues. Therefore, due to the amount of information served in a museum and the status of the museum which is a public facility that is open to all circles, a museum must be inclusive in order to cover the needs of its very diverse visitors.
In general, art is interpreted as visual appreciation by most people, so is the case with information given in museums, which resulting to those who have visual impairments, may feel unwelcomed because of their limitations in accessing the collection and information inside a museum [2]. However, for visitors with visual impairments, their way of appreciating is certainly not through their visuals, but rather using other senses that are not visual senses. Thus, in the end, it is not uncommon for visitors with visual impairment to feel unwelcomed when visiting a museum due to the lack of consideration of the museums in presenting collections and information that are accessible to other sensory than visual.
People who have vision damage are divided into two, total blindness and low vision [4]. Total blindness or totally blind are those who do not have vision at all, while for those who still have remaining vision but are not good enough to be able to read 12 points of normal writing in normal light even though they have been assisted with glasses are referred to as low vision [8]. So, it can be said that, low vision is a term that refers to individuals with partial visual impairment, where individuals with low vision can still see and read with the presence of visual aids, such as magnifying glass, the distance of the individual from the object being seen, and writing which is printed in large sizes [9]. In this writing, the author focuses the discussion on those who are totally blind and low vision: color blindness, double vision, and blurred vision only. The focusing of the discussion is determined based on a solution that can be solved architecturally.
The many types of information available in a museum such as information about museum collections or information in mobilizing in a museum makes museum requires the presence of solutions that can align various information given. Architecturally, alignment of information can be achieved by presenting a wayfinding system that is useful in giving direction, knowing the context, and understanding the information contained in an area. Wayfinding itself refers to a person's ability, both cognitive and behavioral, to find his way, so that someone is able to do his work or activities without the need to see by relying on his memory. Wayfinding is also a process carried out by each individual to orient himself in an environment [10]. Whilst a system itself is a collection of elements that interact with one another to achieve a certain goal [5]. So, based on the understanding of the system and wayfinding, it can be concluded that, the wayfinding system is a tool for an individual in navigating and processing information around them to produce action depends on the situation through the wayfinding system elements that are presence.

Wayfinding System for the Blinds in the Museum.
According to the NHS Estates [6], vision and hearing are the two key senses used in accessing the wayfinding system. However, for someone with visual impairments, vision is an obstacle for them in accessing the existing wayfinding system. Persons with visual impairments can only access their environmental information through the response of any other senses beside their visuals. The interactions that occur between their nonvisual senses and the environment around them, such as touching an object, hearing audio, or smelling the scent around it will further form a memory which helps the process of wayfinding for an individual [5]. Thus, for persons with visual impairments, the wayfinding process will be more influenced by their nonvisual sensory interactions by adapting the conditions of the area in which they are located. Non-visual senses itself include the sense of touch, hearing, smell, and the rest of the sense of sight in low vision. Therefore, the need for an environment that provides information which accessible to be responded by other senses than visual are important to be provided.
Based on the different responses from each of the senses, NHS Estates [6] explain the form of a wayfinding system that can be provided to accommodate the needs of the blind in understanding the information given in their surroundings as seen in tables 2.1 and 2.2.

Senses
Wayfinding System Function Hearing -The use of audio information -Providing guide to lead individuals Receive auditory information that is given in an area.
Touch -The use of braille or tactile surface1 on a touchable surface. For example a sign that are adjusted by height so it will be easy for the hand to reach the surface or on a walking area so that it can be felt by the feet when mobilizing. -Providing tactile maps to portray a layout of an area.
Receive information through surface textures that are embossed in an area. The forms of wayfinding systems on both the table above is the general form wayfinding system that can be applied to any buildings including a museum. The museum environment that consists of many areas such as the displacement between the exhibition space, movement between floors, and also many collections on display at a museum, make the museum as one of the neighborhoods that are complex enough to be recognizable by an individual. For someone who has never visited a museum or do not have a picture of a museum, requires the existence of other factors in the museum that can help individuals in exploring the museum [6]. Thus, to overcome these obstacles, wayfinding system is one of the solution that can be applied to the museum to accommodate the needs of visitors in visiting the museum because it can help visitors to be able to determine the direction and understand the information given around the museum.
As already known, wayfinding system is an intermediary for an individual to process information and generate action. Whilst a system consists of elements that are linked with one another so that a system can work well. Thus, in the wayfinding system, there are main elements that need to be considered architecturally. Based on the study of the International Health Facility Guidelines, there are five primary elements that make up the wayfinding system in architecture adapting from Kevin Lynch (1960), which is zones2, path3, landmark4, edge5, nodes6. Based on the five elements, the authors classify the five primary elements that make up the wayfinding system into three groups:  Signage When someone discovers a signage, it triggers the brain to process the of information that will later be followed by a decision to act [1]]. Based on the previous statement, signage has a role in creating memory in the brain. With the presence of signage in an area, the environment or any certain objects will be easier to recognized and remembered by humans because there will be interaction happen between human senses and the environment surrounds them that triggers their memory. The memory which created is what will become the individual's understanding of the environment or the object he encounters. Signage can be in the form of symbols, parts of buildings, art objects, or any other physical or visual elements in a landscape as shown in Silesian Museum in Katowice (figure 1), therefore, a landmark can be categorized as a signage because it indicates an area with objects or elements with further information. These elements will later form a separate identity for an environment to be more easily recognized. The installment of a signage itself must be considered thoroughly in order to be accessed in a universal way. For example, using a clear image of a sign or a symbol and adjusting text and image size so that people with left sense of sight can still see it clearly, or even putting some braille texture on the sign so the blind can actually access it. Thus, a sign that are specific enough to distinguish one environment from another are needed in wayfinding system to help individual understand information better and navigate themselves afterwards. 2 areas characterised by a particular feature or function and given a unique identity 3 distinct areas for movement to and from destinations 4 objects/ elements used to indicate a position / area along a route or at a destination 5 how the perimeter of a path, zone or node is defined. 6 a point in a network/ system at which pathways intersect or branch, usually a point where a decision need to be made   Orientation Based on the definition of KBBI 5th Edition (2016), orientation is observing surrounding in order to determine the right and correct attitude towards direction, place, etc. In finding direction, it is necessary to have an awareness of one's location in an area. This is needed to make it easier for an individual to understand the distance of one place to another or an object to another. The orientation itself includes three other main elements that form the wayfinding system, which is zones, roads, and edges. Zones, roads/access, and edges provided in an environment can later help individuals in identifying where they are in. For example, the orientation of an environment is described by a map or zoning that should be accessible for all users.  Figure 2 shows an example of tactile information map in Tiflologico Museum, Madrid, Spain. The information map gives out the information about the orientation of the museum such as floors, rooms, areas, including the borders that separate each area using a braille and embossed texture. The terms that need to be applied in providing an information map itself based on Wayfinding Design Guidelines (2007) are: 1. Placed near the front door, so people will not get confused about their orientation in the building. 2. Contain information about areas within the museum and the key services location such as lift, toilet, or information desk.  Navigation Navigation is a technique to determine the direction and position of a path or a road precisely in order to achieve the desired destination, and that is why nodes are a part of what is referred as a navigation. It can be in the form of a directory sign whose placement is adjusted to the needs of the existing space or environment as shown in figure 3. The direction finder can be

Explanation of Case Studies
The National Museum of Indonesia or commonly known as the Elephant Museum is a museum located on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat No. 12. The National Museum of Indonesia consists of two buildings. Within the two buildings of the National Museum there are about 160,000 historical objects consisting of 7 types of collections of Prehistoric, Classical or Hindu -Buddhist archeology; Numismatic and Heraldic; Ceramics; Ethnography, Geography and History. The state where The National Museum of Indonesia consists of two buildings and have a lot of display collections shows that one museum can contained so many information, therefore, the presence of a wayfinding system in every corners of the museum is required to help visitors in understanding the information contained in the museum better. An analysis of The National Museum of Indonesia was carried out because it is considered as one of the main museums in Indonesia which has complete and diverse collection and also is one of the largest in Southeast Asia [12]. Based on Strategic Plan of the National Museum of Indonesia's itself in 2015-2019, written on their strategic objectives, in order to achieve excellence service, is when the needs of visitors since the beginning and every time has been fulfilled. The statement includes conditions from entering the museum, enjoying the museum, and leaving the museum with a memory after the visit. Therefore, to accomplish their goals, an appropriate wayfinding system is needed to help visitor's mobilization from entering to exiting the museum, as well as to understand the explanation about the exhibition objects inside the museum.

Case Studies Analysis
The National Museum of Indonesia has a wayfinding system that can be found at some point in the museum to help visitors enjoy their visit to the museum. Based on the presence of elements of the wayfinding system at the National Museum of Indonesia, the authors mapped the locations of those elements for further analysis (Figure 4). The mapping is done only on the wayfinding system that is used for navigation in the National Museum of Indonesia. That is because the wayfinding system used in navigation can be located in various random places in the museum, so a mapping is needed to clarify the discussion. As for the wayfinding system used to help understand the information about museum collection, it will be discussed in general on how the museum displays the information. Mapping wayfinding system is also done only on the first floor of the museum, due to the wayfinding system layout in subsequent floors are in the same pattern.   Visually, a lot of information is provided on the National Museum of Indonesia floor plan information panel, from the use of a text, drawing of plans, and the use of information related to color in hope that the information are well presented to the museum visitors ( Figure 7). However, the way of how information is delivered to the visitors does not considered inclusively where visitors with visual impairment certainly cannot access the information given on the floor plan information panel because of only visual accessed that has been provided. The absence of tactile information and unadjusted display presentation make either visitors who is totally blind or low vision cannot independently access the information. For low vision visitors with color blindness, an unadjusted information related to color can result in changes of color received by the eyes of color-blind visitors due to limited range of colors that can be accepted by them. The original color that should be presented on the floor plan information panel will become a very different color when low vision visitors with color blindness accessing the information ( Figure  8). Directory sign is an explicit example of a navigation tool that gives out specific information about direction in an area by showing arrow that indicate the direction of space. Examples of directory sign that can be found in the museum itself could be a direction to the exhibition hall, toilets, or any other areas in the museum. Based on the mapping of the wayfinding system in Figure 4, the directory signs are located at points B, C, D, and E on the first floor of the National Museum of Indonesia ( figure 9). The location of the directory sign is found not only on the first floor of the museum, but on subsequent floors at the same point as on the first floor. Directory sign can be said as an explicit wayfinding systems because they are located at many points in the museum to provide specific directions for visitors about the changes of direction or position of one room to another, such as exhibition space or public spaces inside the museum. Directory signs are commonly placed in areas that have a wide range, transition area, and intersections in the museum as shown in figure 10. Even though the directory sign are aimed on making visitors easier to mobilize inside the museum, turns out that the directory sign in the National Museum of Indonesia is still incapable to accommodate all visitor's needs in understanding the information inside the museum. The use of transparent acrylic material as a base material for the boards makes the board possible to reflect light. Thus, when sunlight enters and is reflected by the board, the information contained on the board will be difficult to read because it may be faded or vague by the reflected light ( figure 11). Under these conditions, visitors who have low vision such as double vision, blurred vision, and color blindness will find it difficult in reading the information given on the board. Also, the absence of tactile information using braille letters or audio information through audio recordings prevents totally blind visitors from accessing the available wayfinding system independently.  According to the key plan in Figure 12, a wayfinding system called identitiy sign board can be found at point F. This identity sign board is located attached to the wall in between the museum elevator ( figure 13). Just like the previous directory sign, identity sign boards can be found not only at one point, but also on each floor of the museum to provide information regarding the position of the floor where the visitors are in.   Figure 14. Detail of Identity Board in the National Museum of Indonesia As shown in figure 14, there are some shortcomings of the identity boards wayfinding system found in the National Museum. The use of small text, transparent material, and similar color to its background wall make this identity board a little difficult to understand for visitors. For normal visitors, the numbers on the identity board may be easily accessed because they have no problem for their visual, but that does not happen for blind visitors, both low vision or total blindness. To overcome this, the use of large text is needed so that it can be seen clearly from afar, and also the use of contrast colors that has been adjusted for color blind visitors, as well as the presence of tactile information to be accessed by totally blind visitors. d. Display and regulation board

Wayfinding system in Museum Nasional Indonesia
The display and regulation boards are wayfinding systems that can be found in the all over museum collection. This wayfinding system can be placed attached to the wall or on a surface that is close to the object display. The size of the wayfinding system also varies depends on the information given. In both of these wayfinding systems, several deficiencies were found that caused visually impaired visitors, both low vision or total blindness, hard in understanding information related to museum collection: -Writing of information that is too small either by the text or description on both of the display and regulation board. -The placement of the regulation board that is too close to the object display makes blind visitors unable to understand the conditions that should or should not be done ( figure  15). -The use of color on the information display that have not been adjusted to color blind visitors.  Figure 15. The explanation of how the visually impairment visitor explores the exhibition space in the National Museum of Indonesia

Conclusion
The diversity of information contained in a museum sometimes makes visitors have difficulty in following the flow of a museum or mobilizing inside a museum, especially for visitors who have problem with their visual. Visitors with visual impairments have difficulty accessing information in a museum because most of the information contained in a museum is presented visually, whereas visitors with visual impairments do not have the access to visual information. In order to accommodate the needs of museum visitors in accessing the information given in a museum, there is what you called as a wayfinding system that can be useful to assist visitors in understanding the information. Things that must be considered in providing a wayfinding system is its accessibility to all visitors including visitors with visual impairments. In accessing the existing wayfinding system at the museum, visitors with visual impairments will use all of their sensory senses other than their visuals, such as the sense of touch, hearing, smell, and remaining sense of sight for those classified as low vision. It is the response from sensory other than visual that needed to be present in the wayfinding system in a museum in order to be accessible by all museum visitors in understanding information.
Based on the results of the case study analysis in the previous chapter, although a museum has provided a diverse wayfinding system, the accessibility to all visitors is still lacking in attention. For example, the wayfinding system that is present in the National Museum of Indonesia can only be accessed visually and not with other senses. The use of material and design layouts in the wayfinding system that was present was still not properly adjusted for visitors with visual impairments, both totally blind and low vision. Visitors with such needs may feel excluded because they cannot access all the information in a museum to its fullest potential. Therefore, the National Museum of Indonesia still cannot cover all its visitors needs in providing the best experience when visiting a museum.