Beyond “Seeing”. A Pilot Audio/Tactile Experiment for a Synesthetic Approach to Museum Accessibility

Multiple converging factors are transforming how museums relate to their visitors. (1) ICOM (2022) introduced an updated museum definition centered on accessibility. (2) The European Accessibility Act (EAA, 2019/88) recently (June 28, 2025) came into full force. (3) The Ministry of Culture earmarked PNRR (2022) funds specifically to advance museum accessibility. Alongside these developments, museum accessibility has drawn growing interest from both scholars and designers. Numerous papers describe cases in which multisensory design facilitates content accessibility (Caruso, 2011; Levent & Leone, 2014; Lupton & Lipps, 2018; Riccò & Hou, 2025; Socrati, 2026). Museums currently find themselves in an unprecedented phase of experiential innovation driven by multisensory experienc- es. Within this context, a novel tactile experience format was put forward to enrich the possibility of approaching art in a multisensory and engaging way. A pilot experiment was conducted with 24 students at Politecnico di Milano to evaluate and compare tactile perception across various textures under varying visual and audio conditions. User feed- back was gathered through administered questionnaires. The experiment results demon- strate that design practices employing synesthetic translations promote communicative accessibility, thereby providing all users with the potential for an expanded experience in accordance with contemporary accessibility regulations.