Effective Strategies for Heritage Interpretation and Universal Design

Core Methods of Heritage Interpretation

• Workshops and Demonstrations

  Carrying out different activities, learning by doing or observing, is the premise of workshops and demonstrations. Direct experience is often an effective way not only to capture attention but also to encourage participation. Storytellers, for example, utilize this method effectively.

• Scheduled Interpretive Tours

  In scheduled tours, the interpreter plays a key role in the presentation of heritage. It is often through the interpreter that the public establishes a relationship with the feature or set of assets. Tourists tend to see the interpreter as a representative of the social community they visit. In any case, interpretive media can encourage visitors to explore the equipment itself or the heritage territory being presented. The guided themed tour can become theatrical, and the guide-interpreter can become a character in the story or a local resident from a certain historical period.

• Educational Programs and School Activities

  School activities occupy a major part of the supply of heritage institutions, as students are a primary audience for many of them. Among the many institutions that stand out for their educational work in the patrimonial field, we highlight the action of English Heritage.

• Connecting Heritage to Local Reality

  Another key strategy is the need to submit offers based on human interest and in connection with the local reality. Interpretation always seeks to motivate the visitor to learn more and become more involved in local life. Community involvement is necessary because, in many cases, the local population identifies itself with projects in which they haven’t participated.

Ensuring Universal Access and Audience Segmentation

Designing for All Audiences

It is important to consider all audiences in the design of strategies for the presentation of heritage. Interpretation is based on the need to segment audiences and offer tailored services. One audience that is often overlooked is the public with physical or mental disabilities. Even today, we find new assemblies lacking different circuit possibilities for visitors who travel in a wheelchair. The height of objects can prevent not only children from seeing them but also visitors in wheelchairs.

Accessibility Features and Technology

The possibility of manipulation of objects must take into account safety standards for people with visual problems. Fixed texts or guides in Braille, sound emissions, and other methods are used for the presentation of heritage indoors and outdoors. The Internet has become a basic tool for the dissemination of heritage. This aligns with the concept of Design for All, known as Universal Design in America. According to this philosophy, equipment and services must be designed to meet the needs of all users.

The Virgental Valley (Austria, Tyrol) has developed an interpretation initiative aimed at blind people, which in turn allows "seers" (sighted people) to learn to better understand their reality.