The Friends of the Boston Harborwalk (FBHW)—an all-volunteer group that hosts monthly tours, develops interpretive signs, and organizes waterfront clean-ups—continues to develop inclusive features for the five Harborwalk interpretive signs that their team has created. The large signs are posted in English with a QR code that links to websites with additional content including Spanish language translations of all of the content and, recently, audio recordings for the visually impaired.
Thanks to a partnership with the Perkins School for the Blind’s recording studio, audio files for each sign are now part of the companion website for each sign. All of the signs have a QR code that goes directly to the site. The audio content includes descriptions of the visuals on the sign along with readings of all of the text. “The idea came from someone who came on one of our Harborwalk tours,” explained Liz Nelson Weaver. “One of our team members reached out to Perkins, and they have been incredibly helpful and supportive.”
The FBHW team is also grateful to the Boston Marine Society for generously funding this additional component, giving individuals with a visual impairment access to information displayed on the signs.
All sign content, additional information, Spanish translations, and the audio mp3 files can be found at the sites below:
- Boston’s Wooden Shipbuilding Center (East Boston)
- Local Industries (East Boston)
- Ship Repair (East Boston)
- New Life as Floating Barracks (Charlestown)
- Transformed Land (Charlestown)
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