The universe in words: Astronomy for all through audio description within the outreach project Astroaccesible

TL;DR

This paper introduces 'The Universe in Words,' a series of audio-described videos of astronomical images aimed at making astronomy accessible to disabled and non-disabled audiences, enhancing understanding and outreach.

Contribution

It presents a novel application of audio description for astronomical images, promoting inclusivity and improving comprehension for diverse audiences.

Findings

Audio descriptions enhance understanding of astronomical images.

Inclusive resources benefit all audiences, not just disabled individuals.

Videos serve as effective supplementary educational materials.

Abstract

Astroaccesible is an outreach project hosted by the Instituto de Astrof\'I sica de Andaluc\'I a - CSIC and leaded by a blind astronomer aimed at the teaching and popularisation of astronomy and astrophysics among all kind of disabled and non-disabled people. Among the different strategies followed to transmit information to blind and partially sighted people, audio description is one of the most accesible and popular in the case of films and museums, but it has not been yet widely incorporated for the description of astronomical images. In this contribution we introduce {"The Universe in words", which are a series of videos describing images of some of the most popular objects in the Messier catalogue. These audio descriptions do not only have a clear inclusive aspect, but also imply a better and deeper understanding of the represented images for everybody. This is one of the most important aspects of using inclusive resources, as they also clearly improve the efficiency of the transmission process for all kind of public. These videos can also be used as supplementary material in of in-person activities and as a complement to other kind of materials, such as sonifications or models of the same or similar type of astronomical objects.