Linguaggio, relazione ed empatia: audiodescrizione e accessibilità museale

Even though traditional guided tours in museums are – to some extent – akin to audio description (AD), they fall short of making art and heritage sites fully accessible also to visually impaired people. As a full-fledged discipline and professional practice, AD can bridge this gap by providing auditory information that visually impaired museum-goers can use to successfully create a mental image o fan exhibit and thus live an authentic aesthetic and intellectual experience. The present article summarises the interaction between AD and tactile exploration and compares the two modalities in which AD is usually delivered: by a human guide or through a pre-recorded audio-guide. A final issue revolves around the need to rethink accessibility itself, adopting a holistic approach centred on the wider concept of social inclusion