From sight to insight: a methodological framework for subjective audio description in museum contexts and the case of Caravaggio

Abstract

In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the value of subjective and minority styles in audio description, especially within the field of museum accessibility for BPS audiences. Recent research has begun to explore not only the conventional, objective styles commonly identified in previous corpus-based studies but also more subjective and creative approaches. This article introduces a methodology to create subjective audio description based on the project we carried out in at the Church of San Lorenzo, where a Caravaggio painting was audio described with objective and subjective approaches. We present ten minority but growing techniques, from metaphor and synaesthesia to the use of music and descriptions of sensory elements and an exemplification of the Caravaggio’s audio description with the aim to explore the process and propose a methodology for practitioners, students, and researchers in the field of museum audio description.