We have a longstanding relationship with Henshaws charity, based in Manchester, and were very excited when they came to us with a new project to celebrate their 180th anniversary.

They were planning an exhibition at Manchester Central Library during September and October, and wanted us to create a large exhibition stand.

Henshaws is one of the oldest charities in the UK. This anniversary was an opportunity to thank the people of Manchester for all they have done, and show them what Henshaws has done to support visually impaired people, from their blind asylum back in 1837 to the iPad courses they run today. You can find out more about their history here.

With such a large space to fill the temptation is to cram everything in, but we wanted to highlight the most interesting nuggets from the last 180 years and show them off. We suggested three different routes (see scamp top left) from a timeline to case studies, but all agreed that the ‘Did you know?’ theme was the most engaging. The whole design is done with best practice accessibility, so that visually impaired guests can enjoy it too. There are opportunities to engage in each section, from QR codes leading to audio files to hear people recounting their own Henshaws memories to a twitter # to join in the conversation.

Why not head to Manchester Central Library to discover more about how Henshaws improves the lives of people with sight loss. You can even see a number of famous Manchester images as someone with different visual impairments might see it!

Download an audio description of all six panels here.