Positive Practice: When the Digital Arts Expose Accessibility Issues for People with Disabilities

Troy Lindstrom’s first gallery exhibition featured portraits with QR codes, making his art more accessible for people who are hard of hearing and those who are visually impaired.

Making works accessible

For his first gallery exhibition, Troy Lindstrom presented Positive Practice: Acts of Kindness & Creating with Disability at the Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George, British Columbia. Made up of portraits of people who have supported Lindstrom throughout his life, the exhibition featured QR codes that led to written text and an audio file intended for people who are hard of hearing and those who are visually impaired. Videos on accessibility completed the exhibition. Living with a disability has pushed Lindstrom to fight for audiences and artists with disabilities and to make the exhibition experience more inclusive.

Technology in service to the arts

In creating art, Lindstrom found a refuge from pain and depression, consequences of his own chronic illness. He hopes to democratize digital art by demonstrating how technology can serve as a canvas for creation.