“The National Archives are the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. They are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents.  As a result, we were delighted when a chance meeting at a History Teachers’ Conference led to an invitation to take part in a project that is looking closer at make online and onsite offerings more accessible and fun for students with a vision impairment, with a particular focus on incorporating tactile images.

There were a couple of online meetings to discuss suitable resources to be produced by George Rhodes from All Able, who is doing a PhD on computer aided design for 3D printed tactile images.  Then, just before the Easter holiday, a group of History students travelled up to Kew for a tour and workshop.  The students’ excitement was matched by that of the staff.

The tour of the repository involved seeing the rolling stacks and hearing about how and where the materials are stored, as well as the rests and weights used when the documents are accessed.  The snake weights and moving the rolling stacks were a great success, as well as the objects brought out to touch – these included the largest map, 1930s silk pyjamas and a tally stick.

The students were divided into groups for the workshop.  As Maxwell has described, his group were given a tactile Medieval map. ‘Then we were asked what we thought was on it and what it represented. We were given next a bag of sensory clues relating to our map and afterwards we had to present to everyone else about what was on the map. It was so much fun.’

Natalie said that her group ‘learned a lot more about the Peterloo massacre from the tactile model of the painting’.  Ellie and George looked at a payment record for John Blanke, the Black trumpeter who worked for Henry VIII.  Khadija, Kaeden and Roman were studying a picture of the armies of Mary, Queen of Scots and the Scottish nobility.  Roman found the whole day really interesting and enjoyed the way the groups were encouraged to think through the implications of their tactile representation. 

The students took their responsibility in providing feedback on the materials very seriously and we are sure that other students will gain a lot from such workshops.

A final thrill for everyone was getting to touch the letter Elizabeth I wrote to Mary I before she went into the Tower of London, as well as the last will of King Henry VIII.   No wonder Khadija described the day as ‘awesome’.  We all send a big thank you to the staff at the National Archives who made the whole experience so special.”