For generations, large swaths of the population have been excluded from experiencing exhibitions at art museums. Those who are sighted have the privilege of visiting museums and engaging with the artwork exhibited within its spaces, including reading contextual information about each piece on the placards positioned nearby. Museums have assumed that it is acceptable to make sight compulsory to engage with art and that sight alone is sufficient. However, those who are blind and partially blind have been mostly marginalized from these cultural experiences, though they have a legal right to access and experience them. In recent years, audio description has emerged to facilitate blind and partially blind museum visitors’ experiencing artwork through oral descriptions of them. However, these audio descriptions are typically created solely by museum professionals, with or without input from visitors, particularly those who are blind and partially blind. In this paper, we argue that audio descriptions that are co-created with visitors who are blind, partially blind, and sighted are more inclusive and broaden participation cross-culturally. We base this argument on evidence from recent workshops on the inclusive co-creation of audio description conducted at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., in 2022 and at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art in 2023.

Co-Presenters:

Audrey Bennett
Professor, Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA

Nicholas La Marca
Student, Masters of Fine Art, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA

Caitlin Dyche
Student, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA