Audio Description in Art and Museums
A page of curated resources on the topic of audio description in art and museums, with links to examples.
by Brett Coulstock. .
Resources
Articles and Guides
- Tips for Creating Accessible Museums: Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning
- Accessibility in Museums: The Art of Writing Audio Descriptions by Dominique Baines.
- Writing AD for Museums — Things to Consider by Lou Giansante.
- Thinking of creating a recorded audio-descriptive guide for your museum? (PDF file from VocalEyes).
- Audio description in an inclusive museum by Dr Rachel Hutchinson.
- EBU good practice for accessibility 2021-2022 Museums and cultural heritage sites (PDF File from EuroBlind).
Papers and Research
- Devisualizing the Museum: From Access to Inclusion by Alison F. Eardley, Hannah Thompson, Anna Fineman, Rachel Hutchinson, Lindsay Bywood, and Matthew Cock. (Javascript required to access)
- Museum Audio Description by Olalla Luque and Celia Barnés-Castaño
- Audio Description of Art: The Role of Mental Imagery and Embodiment by Jana Holšánová.
- Inclusive museum audio guides: ‘guided looking’ through audio description enhances memorability of artworks for sighted audiences by Rachel Hutchinson and Alison F. Eardley.
- The Accessible Museum: Towards an Understanding of International Audio Description Practices in Museums by Rachel S. Hutchinson and Alison F. Eardley.
Podcasts
- Word of Mouth: Audio description: putting art into words BBC Radio 4,
- Audio Description in Museums from ACB Media Network, .
Education and Training
Examples
National Portrait Gallery (Australia)
The National Portrait Gallery is a public art gallery containing portraits of prominent Australians in diverse media including photography, painting, drawing, multimedia, sculpture and textiles.
Some examples:
- Judith Wright with Barbara Blackman by Charles Blackman, .
- Lee Lin Chin by George Fetting, .
- Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu by Guido Maestri, .
- Hugh Jackman by Vincent Fantauzzo, .
Complete list of described works at the National Portrait Gallery.
Art Gallery of South Australia
- Elder Wing of Australian Art: Audio Described Tour
- Melrose Wing of International Art: Audio Described Tour
The Museum of Modern Art (United States of America)
The Museum of Modern Art (Moma) features some descriptions of famous works of art:
- The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, .
- The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí, .
- Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol, .
Complete list of described works at Moma
Others
- Natural History Museum (England)
- 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum: Audio description
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa - A Selection of Audio Descriptions
Filed under:
Accessibility