Inside the accessibility of the Obama presidential center

Earlier this summer, former President Barack Obama announced the opening of his Obama Presidential Center. The Center’s opening, which happened June 19 in Chicago’s Jackson Park, was hailed as “a historic celebration of the power of ordinary people coming together to do extraordinary things.” The grand opening of the 19.3-acre facility coincided with what was called a “three-day open house across campus,” during which tens of thousands of visitors “came to dance, play, learn, connect, and commit to bringing change home.”

“We wanted the Center to be a vibrant, living celebration of community, where we can learn together and share the joys of art and music and sport and play, because it’s in those moments that we’re reminded of our common humanity and strengthen the bonds of trust that not only make our lives richer, but make our democracy stronger,” Obama said in a statement.

Two weeks prior to the opening, on June 4, the Center put out a press release in which it announced exclusive, official digital guides voiced by such luminaries as President Obama himself, Tom Hanks, and Stephen Curry. The guides are available for guests’ smartphones to “enhance onsite visits and can also be used to explore the institution’s collection and artwork from anywhere in the world,” according to the Center’s announcement.

In terms of accessibility, the Center features campus guides presented in American Sign Language signed by April Jackson-Woodard, amongst others. (Jackson is notable here because I interviewed her in 2023 for my old Forbes column.) Furthermore, there exists an audio-described guide for Blind and low vision visitors. The guide is introduced by President Obama and narrated by Kareem Dale, who served as Obama’s special assistant for disability policy—a title described as “the highest-ranking position on disability ever created by a president.”

In a brief interview over email, Juanami Spencer, who works at Bloomberg Connects, the app powering the Obama Presidential Center’s digital guides, as a user experience designer, explained the software, available on iOS and Android, exists to “[provide] digital guides to more than 1,500 cultural organizations” such as botanical gardens and museums. She characterized Bloomberg Connects as “your own personal behind-the-scenes guide with artist videos, curator talks, and exhibition overviews.”

“Our mission at Bloomberg Connects is to make arts and culture accessible to all. We do this by supporting and amplifying the reach of our cultural partners and ensuring the Bloomberg Connects app is inclusive and easy to use for everyone,” Spencer said of Bloomberg Connects’ raison d’être. “The platform is designed with accessibility for all mobile users in mind, including compatibility with assistive technology and support for accessible content such as the Obama Presidential Center’s ASL and audio description guides.”

Spencer highlighted the aforementioned campus tour, telling me it “makes use of a range of accessibility content” beyond sheer audio description to include ASL and alt-text for imagery. Of the latter, Spencer said “the alternative text for images conveys the image’s purpose, context, and key visual information in words that people can understand using assistive technologies such as screen readers or Braille keyboards.” She went on to say accessibility at the Center was a “core consideration” throughout the entire design process, adding the team’s overarching goal was to “to create an experience that serves both seasoned arts enthusiasts and first-time visitors [to ensure that] more people can engage with cultural content in ways that work for them.”

When asked about feedback on the Center’s accessible experiences, Spencer told me Bloomberg Connects “conducts regular accessibility audits and reports against established international accessibility standards” and noted the team does usability testing and iterates and evolves the product based on input from users. Beyond the guides, the Center, she said, has thus far received “positive feedback” overall for its accessibility.

“We believe thoughtfully designed digital tools can make arts and culture more inclusive, discoverable, and accessible to everyone,” Spencer said.