The accessible museum: towards an understanding of international museum audio description practices

Introduction: Audio description (AD) in museums is crucial for making them accessible for people with visual impairments. Nevertheless, there are limited museum-specific AD guidelines currently available. This research examines current varied international practitioner perspectives on museum AD, focusing on imagery, meaning, emotion and degrees of objectivity, and the regional differences (Europe, US) in AD traditions, in order to better understand how museum AD can be used to enhance access. Methods: Forty-two museum describers from 12 countries responded to a questionnaire requiring fixed-choice and free-text responses about the purpose and construction of museum AD. Results: Inference tests showed that European describers agreed more strongly than US describers that AD should ‘explore meaning’ (U = 91.00, N1 = 24, N2 = 14, p = 0.03), and ‘create an emotional experience’ (U = 89.50, N1 = 24, N2 = 14, p = 0.03), rating the use of cognitive prompts as more important (U = 85.50, N1 = 21, N2 = 14, p = 0.04). Qualitative data enriched this understanding by exploring participant responses on the themes of mental imagery, objectivity and interpretation and cognitive prompts. This highlighted broader agreement between regions on mental imagery, but more acceptance of interpretation in AD from the European respondents. Discussion: US and European describers’ opinions differ regarding the purpose of AD: whether it is about conveying visual information or whether broader interpretations should be incorporated into descriptions for audiences with visual impairments. Implications for Practitioners: These findings indicate that further discussion is needed regarding the purpose of museum AD, and in particular the way in which objectivity is contextualised. They raise questions about AD providing visual information, and/or seeking to address a wider museum experience, including the stimulation of curiosity or emotion

The measurement and facilitation of cooperative task performance

Experiments were conducted to determine under what conditions jaw clenching will occur in humans as a response to stress exposure. The method for measuring reactions to stress involves a series of electrical recordings of the masseter and temporalis muscles. A high fixed-ratio response requirement in the first series of experiments shows that jaw clenching in humans occurs in situations analogous to those which produce biting in infrahuman subjects. In the second series, reduction in the amounts of money recieved by subjects is shown to cause increases in the jaw clench response and other negative effect motor behaviors. The third series demonstrates that perception of more favorable conditions existing for another person can increase anger and hostility in the subject

Museums for all: towards engaging, memorable museum experiences through inclusive audio description

Museums seek to offer their visitors a rich and rewarding experience that is accessible and inclusive. Many museums rely on vision as a means of access to collections. Yet having vision does not necessarily mean that visitors are able to engage with exhibits. Audio Description (AD) has traditionally been defined as an access tool for people who are blind or partially sighted (BPS), which seeks to make visual information accessible though spoken language. However, AD could simultaneously provide ‘guided looking’ for people with sight. This interdisciplinary thesis sets out the first empirical investigation of AD in museums and its potential as inclusive design. Study 1 examines current understandings of museum AD, through an international practitioner survey. It reveals disagreement regarding whether AD should aspire to be an objective visual-verbal ‘translation’ or whether it should incorporate interpretative techniques in order to provide a rich experience. Study 2 explores the nature of the museum experience by analysing autobiographical memories for museum visits, demonstrating the importance of thoughts, feelings and personal context in museum memories and demonstrating an autobiographical memory coding model. Study 3 investigates the impact of AD on the experience, engagement and memorability of sighted participants, with AD resulting in richer memories compared to standard audio guides or minimal text interpretation. Study 4 compares sound enriched and standard AD on the experience, engagement and memorability of blind and sighted people, finding experience benefits for all and memorability benefits for BPS people. This research therefore concludes that AD should be taken out of its access ‘niche’ and considered as an inclusive interpretation tool to enhance engagement and access for all visitors. It argues further that the development of inclusive museum AD should be driven by a fuller understanding of the nature of the museum experience and its lasting impact

Quality-weld parameters for microwelding techniques and equipment

Limited-amplitude, controlled-decay process improves the reliability of microwelding. The system consists in building a capacitor-discharge welder for control of the shape of the weld pulse. Standard welders may be modified

‘I felt I was right there with them’: the impact of sound-enriched audio description on experiencing and remembering artworks, for blind and sighted museum audiences

This study explored the impact of sound-enriched audio descriptions (AD) on the experience and memorability of a digitally presented photography exhibition. Forty blind and partially blind (BPB) and forty sighted participants were presented with eight photographs from the Museum of London’s archive. Four photos were presented with a standard audio descriptive guide (ADG) and four with a sound-enriched audio descriptive guide (EDG). Experience and memorability were assessed directly after the presentation, and approximately 4 weeks later. Results demonstrated that sighted people remembered more photos than BPB people did with ADG. However, when photos were presented with EDG, the BPB and sighted groups remembered equal number of photos and equal numbers of details. EDG was also enjoyed and preferred by both BPB and sighted participants. Findings suggest that EDGs could be used within mainstream museum offerings as inclusive audio interpretation, thus enhancing access and enjoyment for many visitors and facilitating shared experiences

Space station stabilization and control study Final engineering report

Simulation of stabilization and control for spinning, manned space station to provide artificial gravity station environmen