This is an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO is a project funded by the European Union.
This video is made available to you on a Creative Commons licence.
Hello. I’m Elisa Perego
from the University of Trieste, Italy,
In this ADLAB PRO video I will define
descriptive tours and guide you
through the several stages required to plan one.
This is Unit 8 "Descriptive tours"
in Module 4 "Semi-live or recorded AD
for static arts and environments".
In museums, two types of AD
for people with sight loss can be provided:
stand-alone descriptions of artworks
and audio description tours.
According to literature, both types
focus on describing the actual object
and on emphasizing its visible details, such as size,
shape, color, texture, etc.
rather than only addressing what cannot be seen,
for instance history or background information.
AD tours, however, have a value added:
they are coherent itineraries,
which do describe interconnected objects,
but also assist people with sight loss
to move from exhibit to exhibit,
helping them to orient throughout the museum space
via clear and short instructions.
Planning an effective descriptive tour is a challenging process,
one which involves the ability to observe,
but also the time to interact with several people.
The whole process can be broken down into various stages.
Let’s see them briefly.
We will start with stage one, visiting the museum.
You might need to go back several times,
and visit the exhibition with internal staff,
with external experts, and also with blind patrons
who will give you crucial feedback on their requirements.
When in the museum or on an heritage site,
take your time, take some pictures,
and take notes of your first impressions:
these words will turn out to be very useful
when writing your AD text.
After the visit, you’ll be able to initiate
the complex decision-making process
of choosing the source text. This is stage two.
But, what is exactly a “source text” in a descriptive tour?
It is not a single, self-dependent item,
but a selection of interconnected objects
relating to one another in a given, relevant space,
the museum space.
When choosing a selection of objects,
you’ll have to pick attractive, unusual, arresting,
meaningful objects. Those which best represent
the museum exhibition’s narrative and scope,
and are more appropriate to clear and vivid descriptions
or, just in case, tactile reproduction.
Starting from your meaningful selection, during stage three,
you shall plan a coherent itinerary including objects sequenced
in such a way as to convey a story
and hold the visitor’s attention.
The tour should be entertaining, but not too long:
the span of attention of museum visitors is limited!
At this stage, stage four,
think whether to go for an enriched descriptive tour,
by adding for instance a haptic dimension to it
via the introduction of Braille or relief writing,
tactile drawing boards or maps,
replicas or bas-reliefs, etc.
Before moving to the AD writing process,
you will also need to do a lot of research.
This is stage five.
Try to exploit internal museum libraries,
or use specialized literature,
get hold of specific exhibition material
such as catalogues, captions, brochures, etc.,
and talk to people: you can interview art experts
and museum curators to gather focused information
on your selected items.
Let’s now move to stage six.
Now you can draft your AD text.
Remember to plan it first, then write and edit it
as many times as necessary.
Judge, rehearse, polish,
prune away unnecessary details,
and decide what is allowed to remain,
just like in film scriptwriting.
Remember that in AD less is always more.
If you produce a descriptive tour, you’ll also have to take care
of the adequate orientation of the prospective visitor.
You can do so by giving precise, factual
and succinct orientation instructions,
but at the same time do not forget to assist
and encourage the visitors verbally,
as well as to make them feel comfortable and supported, but free.
Do not put pressure on them:
there’s no rush when visiting a museum.
Once your draft turns into a final AD script,
try and get feedback from people with sight loss.
If possible, plan a piloting session with them
followed by a structured reception questionnaire.
And discuss the final version of your descriptive tour
with museum curators. Feedback will be invaluable
and will have to be incorporated in your script.
Only at this moment can you fine tune your script
and eventually finalise it for audio recording.
Remember that if you have to deliver live AD tours,
an annotated outline including keywords
will be enough for you to successfully sail along a museum
with your visitors.
I hope you have learned something new
about descriptive tours in this ADLAB PRO video.
Bye!
The preparation of this presentation
was supported by ADLAB PRO. Audio Description:
A Laboratory for the Development of a New Professional Profile
financed by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme,
Key Action 2, Strategic Partnerships.
Project number:
2016-1-IT02-KA203-024311.
The information and views set out in this presentation
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion of the European Union.
Neither the European Union institutions and bodies
nor any person acting on their behalf
may be held responsible for the use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
This was an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO partners are: University of Trieste,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
University of Antwerp, Adam Mickiewicz University,
RTV Slovenia, Utopian Voices,
Soundfocus and Royal National Institute of Blind People.
ADLAB PRO was funded by the European Union.
This video was made available to you on a Creative Commons licence.