COVID-19 has changed everything. From schools to stores, its impact has been felt nearly everywhere. This also holds true for museums.
The pandemic has led museum administrators to turn to digital audio tour alternatives, such as the CRISAccess app.

For administrators, the innovative CRISAccess app is affordable and turnkey, and doesn’t require them to purchase audio equipment and disinfect it after each use. It also offers them an alternative tours conducted by staff and volunteer docents.

For visitors, the free app is easy to use, can be downloaded in minutes on their own smartphone, and allows them to keep their physical distance from others.

Unlike some other audio tour apps, the CRISAccess app doesn’t require visitors to input a series of numbers in order to listen to the audio recording. The CRISAccess app syncs directly to the exhibit either through a QR Code or GPS function, making it more accessible for people with visual challenges.

With no date in sight for a vaccine for the coronavirus, museum administrators will need to continue to do things differently to attract visitors with appealing and safe experiences. Among the changes, interactive touch screens displayed at exhibits and headsets for audio tours are no longer being loaned out due to the highly contagious coronavirus.

In-person tours have taken a hit through staff layoffs or furloughs due to a loss in admission and event revenues. Volunteer docents – many of retirement age – whom many museums count on to conduct their tours, are self-selecting to suspend their volunteer activities because their age places them at heightened risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.

Facing these COVID-19 challenges, the CRISAccess app provides museum administrators and their visitors a win-win with a digital alternative that is engaging, quick to implement, and affordable.