Audio-Described Film for the Visually Impaired at the BA Antiquities Museum
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The BA Antiquities Museum has embarked on English to Arabic audio descriptions to the film titled Mummification in Ancient Egypt to make it suitable for the visually impaired. Audiovisual descriptions enable the visually impaired to follow films through sound instead of sight. A pre-recorded voice describes each scene in minute detail to acquaint them with the mummification process in ancient Egypt. The translation was provided by Ms. Aya Nabeeh, a specialized translator with an MA in Audiovisual Translation from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad bin Khalifa University in 2018. The Antiquities Museum decided on this new step due to its belief in the important role that the visually impaired play in society as they form an integral part of it.
Audio descriptions enable the visually impaired to visualize different visual art forms, such as films, theatrical performances, paintings and sculptures through translating artistic visual material into audible text in an effort to implement the Museum's educational and cultural goals within the Egyptian society, and especially for the visually impaired who are among the most frequent BA visitors as an entire library, namely the Taha Hussein Library for the Visually Impaired, is dedicated to them. Previously, the Museum put up Braille plaques to explain the displayed antiquities, as well as 2D paintings next to the plaques to help them visualize the antiquities.
The BA Antiquities Museum has undergone this task as it comes in line with its belief in the role of the BA as a leading institution in Egypt and around the world and a beacon of science, culture, knowledge, civilization, and communication in ancient and modern times.