A Study on Sound and Sound Design for Accessibility in Cultural Heritage Contexts in Ireland

From our tangible heritage such as Newgrange, our native instruments, and the Book of Kells, to the intangible heritage of our myths, legends, and oral traditions, Ireland is a place with a colourful and expansive Cultural Heritage (CH). However, many of the country’s tangible CH sites remain if not partially, then completely inaccessible to the disabled community.Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of a Person with Disabilities in 2007, and therefore acknowledges that equal access to Cultural and Leisure activities for disabled people is a right. However, change can be slow, and the ratification of this document took eleven years- i.e. it was not signed until March 2018 [1].Early findings from the research are discussed. Additionally, potential solutions for improving accessibility outcomes in CH sites for visually impaired/blind people are investigated. Augmented 3D sound, ambisonics, and sound design are suggested as a facilitator for inclusive heritage experiences that elicit the same sense of "awe and wonder" [2], p.243] as seeing these sites does. Though there is a lack of sound design utilised in this way in Irish CH sites, more specifically rural sites, there is precedent for using sound design as an accessibility tool in other fields (e.g. gaming). This paper outlines the current state of CH and sound design in Ireland, and reflects on how the research following could potentially improve this.