Dr Alison Eardley, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, has been awarded a grant jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the National Endowment for Humanities (US) for her new research investigating how to broaden participation through co-created inclusive digital museum audio interpretation.
This international project is run jointly by the University of Westminster and the University of Michigan in partnership with Royal Holloway University of London. Researchers will work in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Watts Gallery, VocalEyes and Smartify to develop a new model for the creation of digital museum audio designed by and for blind, partially bind and sighted museum visitors. For people who are blind or partially blind, audio description (AD) is traditionally described as a verbal narrative for information available through vision. The innovative project will challenge both the assumption that AD should be designed for the blind by the sighted, and the assumption that only blind people can benefit from AD.
The project titled ‘I don’t see what you mean: designing creative, accessible museum experiences’ was developed by Dr Alison Eardley and will enable museums to challenge the ableist assumptions that have often underpinned museum provision for blind and partially blind people, at the same time as providing a tool for transforming digital access to cultural heritage. This will develop a model to give museums a streamlined way to create new AD, extending their digital provision and boosting inclusion.
Talking about the new research, Dr Alison Eardley said: “This trans-Atlantic collaboration provides a really exciting opportunity to transform the way that audio interpretation is designed in museums. Instead of having the standard audio guide for the sighted majority, and audio description for blind minority, this project will provide a method for co-creating audio interpretation designed for all visitors.”
Christopher Smith, Executive Chair of AHRC, added: “This collaboration connects leading institutions in the US and the UK to pioneer ground-breaking new research methods and lead world class research and innovation in digital humanities. These projects will open up heritage and culture in new ways that benefit both researchers and the public and bring a wealth of fascinating collections into the 21st century and in ever more accessible ways.”
Find out more about the research and other funded projects on the UKRI website.
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