Museum audio description: the problem of textual fidelity

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS:

• audio description
• museum interpretation
• visitor experience
• psychology

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Lindsay Bywood and Dr Louise Fryer for their support and feedback on previous drafts of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Rachel Hutchinson has a BA in modern languages, University of Oxford, and an MA in English literature, University of London. She is interested in access to the arts for people with a visual impairment. Her multidisciplinary PhD research, based in the Department of Psychology at the University of Westminster, focuses on audio description in museums and its potential to provide both access for visitors with a visual impairment and guided looking for sighted visitors as part of an inclusive design approach. She is particularly interested in multisensory audio description and its potential impact on enjoyment, learning and memorability for all visitors.

Alison Eardley, PhD, is a cognitive psychologist whose work has explored the nature of non-visual mental representation in the sighted and people with a visual impairment. Her work has suggested that the mechanisms underlying spatial mental representation and imagery function are not reliant on vision. Her current work is extending theoretical understanding into applied domains, exploring how multisensory processing and imagery (including AD) can be applied within museums and heritage environments to create inclusive design protocols that would benefit all visitors. She is using autobiographical memory theory as the basis for evaluating these museum experiences.