Accessible Venice: the inclusive web app that revolutionises the experience of visiting art sites

Are you looking for a way to discover the art and culture of Venice without barriers, whether you have visual impairments or not?

If the answer is yes, you’ve come to the right place. In Venice and the lagoon hinterland, a new way of experiencing cultural heritage is emerging: more inclusive, more accessible, more human. Three jewels of Venice’s artistic heritage – the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista and Villa Foscari La Malcontenta – have joined an innovative project that makes visiting easier, more engaging and open to all, thanks to a latest-generation web app. I am referring to MyMuseum 2.0, a digital guide designed to overcome cognitive and visual barriers and enrich the experience of every visitor. Find out in this article how it works, who created it and why it could change the way we experience art forever.

Art and inclusion: what makes MyMuseum 2.0 so special

MyMuseum 2.0 is not just an audio guide: it is a web app designed to make cultural content accessible to people with and without visual impairments, without creating divisions or separate routes. Its strength lies in its inclusiveness: all visitors have access to the same content, which can be customised according to their needs. Simply scan a QR code with your smartphone to activate the guide directly from your browser, without the need to download anything.

The content has been developed by experts in the cultural sector, supervised by accessibility professionals and tested by a focus group from the Italian Aniridia Association APS. This means that every description, every story and every detail is designed to be understood by everyone.

Three Venetian masterpieces to rediscover without barriers

The web app is currently active in three iconic locations of Venetian culture:

1. Scuola Grande di San Rocco: an extraordinary church embellished with paintings by Tintoretto and frescoes by Pordenone. The high altar, with its statues and gilding, is a treasure trove of art and spirituality.
2. Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista: a journey through Venetian Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. It also houses a precious reliquary with fragments of the True Cross.
3. Villa Foscari La Malcontenta: a masterpiece by Andrea Palladio overlooking the Brenta Riviera, with extraordinary frescoes and a park that invites contemplation. Discover Palladio in my article on who Andrea Palladio was and what his works are.

Tutti e tre i siti si uniscono in un’esperienza di visita fluida, coerente, accessibile e ricca di emozioni.

Behind the scenes: teamwork for cultural accessibility

The project was conceived by lineadacqua, a Venetian publishing house active in the field of cultural heritage, in collaboration with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired ONLUS-APS of Venice and the Italian Aniridia Association APS, and with the patronage of the Regional Council of Veneto.

The authors of the content include some big names: Alberto Toso Fei and Elisabetta Pasqualin for the Scuola di San Giovanni, Maria Agnese Chiari for San Rocco and Antonio Foscari (with the narrating voice of Ferigo Foscari) for La Malcontenta. The original music is by Federico Zanandrea and the sound effects were developed with film experts.

The result? An engaging, emotional narrative that is also accessible to those who are visually impaired, blind or have cognitive difficulties.

Technology and culture at the service of people

The MyMuseum 2.0 web app is a concentration of technology designed to be easy to use. You can select the best visual contrast, choose from a variety of interfaces and access additional digital content without taking your attention away from the actual site. A customisable experience that improves the quality of the visit for everyone.

Thanks to the digitisation of the works, you can explore them on your smartphone with the help of screen readers and other assistive tools. This is known as UX (User Experience) optimisation applied to art.

A new right to beauty

The MyMuseum 2.0 project is not just a technological innovation, it is a step forward towards the universal right to culture. Those with visual impairments can finally enjoy what often remains invisible. And even if you don’t have any particular difficulties, you will discover details and stories that normally escape you.

As I already mentioned in the article 5 beautiful bridges in Venice, every corner of the city has a story to tell, if we know how to listen. Now, thanks to MyMuseum 2.0, we can all listen together.

Villa Foscari La Malcontenta

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