TL;DR
I visited Brookside Gardens almost a year ago now, and it was so, so dope.
Quick Intro
I can’t really remember what prompted this trip, but while visiting a friend, we decided to take a trip to Brookside Gardens. Here, we ran into a section that was created specifically for blind visitors.
Image of a sign at the entrance of the Fragrance Garden describing the area and its history.
My Goal
I just wanted to enjoy the outing. Nothing too complicated
My Experience
When we first arrived, it seemed to be an ordinary garden park. The scenery was beautiful and the good weather definitely added to the atmosphere.
Image of the park showing lots of green grass and a small body of water that reflects the blue sky with clouds.
Picture of red fragrant flowers behind a flowing water fountain.
Then we stumbled upon the Fragrance Garden. This particular garden was created with its blind visitors in mind. Originally named the Garden for the Senses, this garden contained plants that produced noticeable scents and a water feature that added in the extra sound of splashing water. This place was clearly meant to be enjoyed by both people who could and could not see.
As I walked through, I even closed my eyes in order to adjust the way I was experiencing everything. The smells in the air were strong, although I do think the sound aspect is a bit harder to enjoy with children running around. 😅
Picture of white fragrant flowers.
Picture of purple and yellow fragrant flowers.
Dope or Dead?
This was dope. I’ve been to a few parks and botanical gardens in the past but this was my first encounter with a garden that was created for the enjoyment of people who would not be able to see it. I guess technically one could argue that several gardens are that way by default because of the scent many flowers have but I thought it was really cool that this one was created specifically with blind visitors in mind.
Picture of red and yellow fragrant flowers.
Image of me posing in front of a small lake in the garden.
UX Corner
In UX, it’s incredibly important for us to consider all of our users and not just those similar to us—whether that’s a similarity in ability, language, location, or the type of software or hardware we use. This is accessibility. In order to make sure we have the necessary knowledge needed to promote accessibility and prevent us from creating things that are exclusionary, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) created standards for all to reference when building web products.
Their reference material goes in depth into what accessibility is, why it’s important, and the different ways in which we can go about making different aspects of our products as accessible as possible. These guidelines aren’t always followed, unfortunately; however, there has been a rise in users holding tech companies accountable (which has been amazing to see!).
Sometimes the guidelines can be tricky to understand and there may be different things that contradict one another when it comes to taking one group of users into account over another (e.g., bold color differences can be helpful for people with visual disabilities but may not be the greatest for others with visual sensitivities), so it’s helpful to do your research and to reach out to the many a11ies and other accessibility advocates that are helping to spread awareness.