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Project Overview
stARTSPEAK: Unlocking imagination through art and technology
The Touch and Create App is part of DADAA’s stARTSPEAK Digital Inclusion program and provides an interactive tool for artists with disability to create art and share their work in the digital space.
stARTSPEAK:Touch & Create is a creative space where you can PLAY, DRAW, EXPLORE and REMIX sounds and original artworks by Western Australian Artists with disability.
Artwork created within the App can be shared with your friends or submitted to an online community art gallery that the App can sync to.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
stARTSPEAK:Touch & Create App was designed by a team of Arts, Health and Digital specialists in collaboration with people with complex communication and support needs.
The project embraced an iterative, inclusive, "with not for" design philosophy within an adapted AGILE model.
The project received a Premier’s Social Innovation Grant and support from funding partners including: the Department for Communities, the Departments for Training and Workforce Development and Culture and the Arts in Western Australia, the Australia Council for the Arts and Community Arts Network WA.
The creation of the stARTSPEAK:Touch & Create App was auspiced by DADAA in partnership with Inkubator, the Disability Services Commission, the Independent Living Centre WA and Challenger TAFE. The key project leads were Danielle Giles (Inkubator) and Simone Flavelle (DADAA).
Project Brief
stARTSPEAK:Touch & Create is a creative space where you can PLAY, DRAW, EXPLORE and REMIX sounds and original artworks by Western Australian Artists with disability.
Using your finger or a stylus, you can:
PLAY with shapes created by artists as sounds play along with you
MUSIC: Play individual musical notes
DRAW: Be inspired by elements of artwork as you create your own drawings
SHARE your creations with your network or upload to an online gallery
EXPLORE shapes and sounds organised into themes
REMIX themes and import your own images to personalise your experience
Touch & Create is supported by an online Community website that features work of the stARTSPEAK profiled artists, artists in development, performance artists as well as a dynamic gallery of artwork submitted to the website by users of the App. The broader project can be viewed at www.startspeak.org and it features a blog that illustrates some of the unique ways people are already using the App - performance artists are projecting it on walls to use as a tool to co create performance with, Education Assistants are using it as a barrier breaking tool in classrooms - uses we never imagined when we were creating it.
Feedback
“Beautiful”
“I spent 45 minutes playing with this app with my 3 year old - we were both thoroughly enthralled. A great interactive activity, well done for creating something so engaging and accessible”
“A non judgemental, truly creative play space"
Project Need
stARTSPEAK addresses the social issue of digital exclusion.
There is a lack of consumer-driven, entry level tablet experiences and self-expression options for people with high support and complex communication needs (HSN/CCN).
The broader stARTSPEAK project, of which the Touch & Create App is a component of, aims to address this need and provide an iPad App that enables participation in the creation of art and share of artwork in the digital space. The goal through the App is to make this activity more accessible and requiring less facilitation and intervention by support staff. For people with high support and complex communication needs their ability to participate in arts activities rests on the care and support staff to facilitate access and participation. In designing the App we sought to peel back some of layers of facilitation required, the ability of an arts/cultural experience to be available through an iPad App makes access to and uptake of this experience more accessible and user friendly.
User Experience
Embracing a with not for design ethos people from our target market - people with high support and complex communication needs (HSN/CCN) and their support networks were involved in the project from inception.
We developed the App using an inclusive and iterative development cycle within an adapted AGILE model.
The App was designed to respond to single and multi touch gestures with a UI design and encoded functionality that took into consideration the usage requirements of people with limited mobility.
The UI design also reflects and incorporates end user feedback that placed importance on the need for consideration of cognitive abilities and accessible design principles in both the UI and functionality of the App. There is not a great deal of research and information in regards to designing for increased participation in the digital space for people with different levels of cognitive ability so the feedback from our research partners and end user group testers was critical in influencing these elements.
The App was also designed with the knowledge of real world application and access for people living with complex communication and support requirements and therefore includes the ability for functions that help support accessibility to be activated and saved to a user profile and enables the creation of multiple user profiles which can beneficial in educational or therapeutic settings.
Project Marketing
The App is part of a broader community development project that aims to address the digital divide for people with complex disabilities and Unlock Imagination through the use of Art and Technology.
Initially we took an organic approach in marketing the App to industry bodies and professionals as it was designed for a niche audience. This approach included presentation at international industry conferences and symposiums, and the build of a genuine community of interest online. Through these initiatives we have seen and heard that the App has a broader appeal to a wider diversity of people with support and communication requirements, this is an international market. The App also has value for an early learning education market and special needs education market. Recently the App has been reviewed in the Special Ed App space and was featured at the AWESOME International Children’s Arts festival and received awesome feedback from parents and kids alike.
We want everyone to know about our app as it really is beautiful and unique! We would love more support and guidance in this space as we have had limited resources to devote to this area.
Project Privacy
Privacy and protection of user identity was a significant concern for us from the beginning of the development phase. Subsequently the App was designed to require limited personal information to be input. Share functionality was also impacted by the real world lived experience of many of our target end users in that they may be accessing a shared iPad and therefore we did not want to facilitate use of the installed mail clients or social media profiles. With increased funds in a future iteration the App could be expanded to include server side development to enable password protected profiles and artwork.
EdTech
EdTech focuses on how education is changing through technology, changing the way we learn and process knowledge. What will stand out here is those that enhance the learning experience and make a lasting impression.
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