Designing Social Stories for a University Museum: Accessibility as an Opportunity for Teaching Innovation

Intellectual access for all is a major challenge for museums, as cognitive disabilities are diverse and require varied and personalized approaches. The contribution illustrates a pilot project in which students, trainees and undergraduates of the degree courses in Management of Cultural Heritage and Educational Sciences participated in the design of two prototypes of Social Stories with the aim of making the museum accessible to people with intellectual disabilities. The case-study was proposed in the following academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21. Although the lectures were held online during the pandemic period, analysing the experience and the social stories produced made students increase their awareness of the issues related to intellectual accessibility, and acquire specific skills in writing easy-to-read museum texts. The tested teaching method will continue to be implemented in the university museum context. The experience confirmed how university museums can rethink their action by turning the implementation of new services into an extraordinary training opportunity for pre-service museum educators.