Now Available! Sounds of the Western Reserve CD Click on the links to the right to listen to the cars now! Over the past year, staff and a special consultant to the Museum, who is blind, have been exploring ways of having the Crawford automobiles speak for themselves.  Last year the Crawford received a grant from the Storer Foundation to investigate the use of recorded sound to enhance the interpretation of the Crawford collection. The main focus of the grant is to describe the automobiles to museum visitors who have visual impairments. The idea is to prepare voice descriptions of the autos, capture the sound of the auto when it is running, and to present this information in a way that visually-impaired visitors could access on their own, as easily as sighted visitors who can simply walk up and take a look. Working with staff members Al Unrein, Chris Dawson, and Ed Pershey is Jeff Moyer, a nationally recognized consultant on accessibility. Jeff is also a songwriter and performer who knows his way around microphones, tape recorders, and sound studios. Over the past year Jeff has been digitally recording the sound of the cars in the Crawford collection. Jeff records the sounds of start up, driving, and shutdown, both from the outside and from the interior of the autos from the passenger seat. Each car has its own voice that is quite distinctive. These sound recordings will be combined with tape-recorded voice labels prepared by Jeff into exhibit units that can be added to the display of the autos in the museum. Any visitor to the museum will be able to access this audible interpretive information using a variety of audio technologies, including a new product on the market called Talking Signs that uses wireless transmitters to beam directional information to special receivers that are carried by the visually impaired. As part of the grant, directional Talking Signs will be installed in the Reinberger entrance, so that folks like Jeff can find their own way to the restrooms, exits, Library, gift shop, and museum exhibits. Talking Signs at each of the autos will guide visitors to a specific car by using these directional beams. At the car, the new talking exhibit will provide an audible label, sounds of the car in operation, coupled with a scale model of the car that can be picked up, touched, and felt for overall contours. All models will be at the same scale, allowing direct comparisons of shape and size. We hope to install the first of these audible exhibits by spring, 2004. The ultimate goal of this project is to enhance the interpretive display of Crawford autos not just for Jeff and others with visual limitations, but for any and all visitors to the Crawford.   Jeff Moyer recording the 1926 Ford                                           Back to the top

In This Section 1929 Jordan   1921 Winton   1929 Ford   1926 Ford TT   1925 White Bus   1926 Chandler   1920 Mercer