Introducing W-⁠ICAD

Why is W-⁠ICAD needed?

The majority of museum and heritage sector visitors have to rely on sight to be able to engage with content and collections. Even where there might be things to touch, smell, or hear, vision is generally needed to understand the overall meaning. In other words, it is generally assumed that vision is enough to access content in museum. This assumption is not supported by research from psychology, cognitive neuroscience or museum studies.

In the centre of this photo pale fingers are stretched out on a wooden board with bits of metal extending out and slightly upwards. The metal colour has a rusted, unpolished look about it. The board is a dark coloured wood, something like a mahogany. The hand looks like it is feeling for information. Just underneath the board in the shadows we see part of another hand, which looks like it is holding the object. The hand feeling the object is partly hidden by a burgundy sleeve cuff which is emerging from a warm dove grey coloured coat sleeve. In the righthand quarter of the image, there is a dark shadow. The top part of this shadow is a similar shade of burgundy as we see in the cuff of the sleeve that is emerging out from the coat. — Image contents courtesy of the Horniman Museums and Gardens

Museum audio description (sometimes referred to as verbal description in the US) is an important tool for providing access to blind and partially blind museum visitors. However, audio description (AD) remains a niche access provision, often with limited availability in limited numbers of heritage organisations. It is considered costly for a relatively small number of users. In fact, research has suggested that AD can benefit sighted audiences, as well as blind and partially blind ones.

AD is also often created by sighted people for blind or partially blind audiences. This is because it was traditionally assumed that vision is necessary to access museum collections.

What is W-⁠ICAD aiming to do?

The Workshop for Inclusive Co-created Audio Description (W-⁠ICAD) challenges both the assumption that vision alone is enough to access meaning in museum collections, and that it is necessary to access museum collections. It brings together groups of blind, partially blind (low vision) and sighted people to co-created AD through conversation.

Research has shown that AD benefits both blind and sighted audiences. W-⁠ICAD is underpinned by the principle of Blindness Gain, which repositions blindness, and the creative ways of living associated with blindness, as a gain. One of the key principles is that tools, created for and by the blind community, can enhance the experience of everyone. This theory is supported by the research literature, which highlights the benefits of AD to sighted and blind audiences.

Photo showing four women sitting on stools in a gallery of the National Portrait Gallery. Three of the women are facing towards the top right corner of the photo, where half of a detailed quilted portrait is showing. The women have broad smiles, as they look towards the portrait. We think they are laughing together about something that one of them has said. The fourth woman, closest to the wall, faces the group, she also seems to be laughing. The woman closest to the wall is a mixed-race woman with a background ethnically of black, Japanese, and Native American. To her left of her the woman is first generation American, with both her parents being from Peru. She has an have an olive skin tone. To the left of her, the third and fourth women are white. — Image with grateful thanks to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

The origins of W-⁠ICAD

The concept for W-⁠ICAD builds on the work of the project team, and in particular on the work of Alison Eardley, Lindsay Bywood and Hannah Thompson, who are all researching inclusive audio description in a range of contexts. It also draws heavily on Hannah’s work on blindness gain.

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and the Watts Gallery and Artist village came onboard as project partners, and the project was awarded initial joint funding from the AHRC-NEH to develop the model. This was followed by a second phase of AHRC funding to both expand the model for use with a range of collections and heritage environments, and to develop the in-person and online training courses.