Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter has introduced ‘Tactile Tours’, allowing visually-impaired visitors to experience props and costumes from the film series for the first time. Olivia Palamountain reports
Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter has transformed its visitor experience with new ‘Tactile Tours‘, developed in collaboration with charity Guide Dogs.
The initiative enables visitors with visual impairments to explore the magical world through touch, featuring authentic props, costumes and set pieces previously off-limits to handling.
The initiative enables visitors to touch iconic items including the wands of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Voldemort, as well as Death Eater costumes and magical creatures. A raised, tactile floorplan of the Hogwarts castle model has also been created to enhance the experience.
Highlights include the the Death Eater costumes and textiles from Professor Trelawney’s Divination classroom. Visitors will also be able to get closer to magical creatures by stroking a section of Aragog’s prickly leg, and they will get to touch the treasure found in Gringotts.”The programme forms part of a broader accessibility initiative that has seen Studio Tour staff complete sighted guide training.
“We’re excited to introduce our new Tactile Tours, where people with a visual impairment can get hands-on to discover how their favourite Harry Potter moments were brought to life through the magic of filmmaking,” says Geoff Spooner, senior vice president at Warner Bros Studio Tour London.
With 250 people in the UK starting to lose their sight daily, the partnership aims to set new standards for accessibility at UK attractions.
The Studio Tour has also sponsored three guide dogs in training, named after the film’s leading characters – Harry, Ron and Hermione – and continues to receive progress updates for each puppy’s development.
