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Increasing inclusion through audio described exhibits: A case study
Abstract
Adding audio and/or touch components to library exhibits has been reported to improve accessibility. Audio description replaces important visual content with equivalent spoken information. While initially implemented to assist people who are blind or have low vision, audio description is beneficial for a broader audience. The concise and objective translation of visual content promotes new ways of learning, helps individuals with language development and strengthens writing skills. This case study describes an audio description pilot project and the authors’ successful exploration into developing a cost-effective method of adding an audio description component to library displays and exhibits.
... The audio guide is one of the common accessibility facilities in museums today and helps people identify clues by translating visual content into objective, easy-to-understand language (Hutchinson & Eardley, 2020). It demonstrated that audio guides could promote learning in museums for people with learning disabilities and autistic groups (Vaughn et al., 2020). Some museums consider audio guides to be an advantageous tool to attract visitors. ...
It is predictable that the employment of sound in museums is inevitable for a multitude of different reasons. The contemporary museum’s emphasis on experience and participation has urged a transformation of its cultural paradigm. Multi-sensory experiences that mix auditory, visual, and tactile elements have become increasingly common in museums. Meanwhile, new demands have been placed on the museum experience as it begins to extend beyond the museum itself. It is appropriate for designers to develop a more holistic perspective on the audience’s connection to the exhibits and cultural content, which should also include consideration of sound content. This research examines inclusive construction in Lombardia museums through the perspective of sound. Inclusion is the starting point that sound can be engaged with, and sound contains other potentials to explore.
In the art educational process, we have met a blind student. That encouraged us to try to investigate how a blind person experiences a pictorial work of art. The framework of the research covered an examination of experiencing a pictorial work of art (its duration, intensity and individual art expression) for a congenitally blind person by applying an educational approach that was designed to enhance her experience of art work. The subject, the only blind student in the regular third grade gymnasium curriculum of visual art, participated in the research. The measuring tool consisted of five selected and adapted paintings of V. van Gogh, and changes in the time needed for tactile art experience were measured as well as art expression and tactile self-assessment, in which the subject determined the intensity of experiencing the selected art work during multiple experiencing. The analysis of quantitative changes was carried out using the statistical method of individual differences. The results of the research have shown that the application of the abovementioned approach influenced the time of experience and art expression of the experienced work of art for the subject. The significance of previous experience was confirmed, based on knowing and recognising the content of the adapted tactile picture. Therefore, after multiple experiences, the time needed for the perception and art expression of experienced content became shorter. However, at the same time, the intensity of the selected works of art remained mainly unchanged. The remarkable intrinsic motivation of the subject was noticeable, leading to positive transfer towards the art educator. That certainly had a positive impact on the experience of pictorial works of art.
This article focuses on an exhibition curated by library employees at the Pennsylvania State University. Their exhibition, Depth of Field, grew out of a common reading program collaboration. In creating the exhibition, the authors of this article aimed to create a dialogue around the way in which viewers interact with visual and textual imagery, specifically as it relates to war photography. Photojournalism is interdisciplinary and provided the authors with multiple avenues in which to approach themes, thus making it the perfect vehicle to cross boundaries and find common space for visitors to the exhibition. The intent of this article is to provide an example of a cross-campus collaboration that resulted in an engaging exhibition, how to take complex ideas and theories and make them digestible for a first-year student audience, and strategies for academic libraries who are considering a similar project at their institution.
This paper describes an affordable approach and prototype system that can enhance the accessibility of museum exhibits to visually impaired users. The approach supports the navigation in exhibition halls and the tactual exploration of exhibit replicas using touch-sensitive audio descriptions and touch gestures on a mobile device. The required technology includes 3D printed exhibits, attached touch sensors, Arduino boards, and a respective mobile app. A preliminary usability evaluation with ten users (blind, visually impaired and blindfolded) revealed a positive user experience with satisfactory and similar performance.
This chapter focuses on disability access in higher education and the role that Universal Design has played in improving meaningful participation and inclusion of students with disabilities. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of several frameworks of Universal Design that are specific to the context of instruction and learning, as well as the scholarship and theory related to implementation of these frameworks in postsecondary classroom environments. Scholarship on how current Universal Design frameworks might be expanded to address a broader set of access and equity issues, as well as the limitation of the current research about its application and effectiveness are also discussed. The chapter closes with a synthesis of opportunities and future directions for research, scholarship, and practice related to the development and implementation of Universal Design frameworks in higher education.
Museums present a myriad of source texts, which are often highly ambiguous. Yet museum audio description (AD) is sited in an AD tradition that advocates objectivity. In screen AD, researchers have examined multiple aspects of the translation decisions facing the describer-translator, considering the ways in which AD is shaped by the demands of the source text, the impact of AD on the recipient's experience and how these aspects may relate to objectivity. We examine the extent to which these decisions may apply to museum AD or differ in a museum setting. We argue that the notion of the ‘source text’ for museums should be expanded beyond the visual elements of museums’ collections, encompassing the wider museum visiting experience. Drawing upon research from museum studies and psychology, we explore the empirical evidence that characterises the experiences of mainstream sighted visitors and discuss the implications for museum AD. If it is to offer true access to the museum experience, then museum AD must consider not only the assimilation of visual information, but also the social, cognitive and emotional elements of visits. From this perspective, the emphasis is shifted from visual to verbal translation to the creative possibilities of re-creation in museum AD.
p>Accessing museums has been difficult for people who are blind or partially sighted, often due to objects being placed in glass cases creating a barrier to access. Many museums around the world provide some accessibility but what happens when a museum looks at the issue in its entirety and sees blind and partially sighted visitors as important as everyone else.
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London has tried to take an holistic approach to access, by looking at what prevents blind and partially sighted visitors visit a museum and how it can improve access for such an audience.
Taking a focused approach to consider not only the objects but implementing a museum wide strategy is required to provide inclusive access for all visitors. The museum considers how it can improve the visitor experience by removing the physical barriers, staff training, providing touch objects and tactile books, as well as looking to the future to see how technology can play a part in improving access.
Employing people with a disability has also assisted the V&A in its journey to becoming more accessible by employing a blind person as its first Disability and Access Officer, a unique opportunity to change from within.
Key words: Victoria and Albert Museum, inclusive museum access, touch tours and
verbal description. </p
Audio description is the process of translating visual information into words for people who are blind or have low vision. Typically such description has focused on films, museum exhibitions, images and video on the internet, and live theater. Because it allows people with visual impairments to experience a variety of cultural and educational texts that would otherwise be inaccessible, audio description is a mandated aspect of disability inclusion, although it remains markedly underdeveloped and underutilized in our classrooms and in society in general. Along with increasing awareness of disability, audio description pushes students to practice close reading of visual material, deepen their analysis, and engage in critical discussions around the methodology, standards and values, language, and role of interpretation in a variety of academic disciplines. We outline a few pedagogical interventions that can be customized to different contexts to develop students' writing and critical thinking skills through guided description of visual material.
Audio Description (AD) allows persons with visual impairments to hear what cannot be seen at theater performances, on film and video, in museum exhibitions—in a wide range of human endeavor. Audio describers provide services in myriad settings, including multi-media events, educational venues, at circuses, rodeos, ice skating exhibitions, sports events, and on Internet web sites. AD provides a verbal version of the visual—the visual is made verbal, aural, and oral for the benefit of people who are blind or have low vision. But it has been shown to be useful for anyone who wants to truly notice and appreciate a more full perspective on any visual event. For instance, by using audio description, children's books can be made accessible to young ones who have low vision or are blind and more sophisticated language skills can be developed for all young people. A picture is worth 1000 words? Maybe. But the audio describer might say that a few well-chosen words conjure vivid and lasting images.
Universal Design Working Group Report
- Chris Vance
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Our commitment to diversity
- Mike Mansfield Library
Description on Videos: Improving Learning Opportunities for Everyone
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Can Blind Artists Compete with Those Who Can See?” . Podcast audio
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Accessible Museum Collections for the Visually Impaired: Combining Tactile Exploration, Audio Descriptions and Mobile Gestures
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What’s Happening: Smithsonian Dinosaurs Accessible via Audio Description, Tactile Models
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Can Blind Artists Compete with Those Who Can See?” The Be My Eyes Podcast. Podcast audio
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Museum Audio Description: The Problem of Textual Fidelity
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- Alison Eardley