Accessibility Is Also About Language.

At Guide-ID we invested quite a lot of effort into making AI part of our platform. A decision which we didn’t make lightheartedly. We had a lot of internal discussions about the usage of AI, and it was also part of the client session we organized in Amsterdam. At the event we noticed that a lot of people were worried about the usage of AI in the cultural sector. One of the speakers we invited gave one of the best insights,

“AI should always be part of a sandwich. The AI part in the middle, the meat, surrounded by humans on the sides, the buns”.

In short, use AI to do the tedious work, use it as inspiration, but always stay critical about what it writes. In the end, the human isn’t only in the loop, but responsible for the output.

Now that we got that hot potato out of the way, let’s talk about one of the benefits of AI. Mainly for museums who want to be as inclusive as possible, but don’t have the unlimited budget to achieve this.

Accessibility, what options does our platform in combination with AI have? When museums talk about accessibility, the conversation often focuses on physical accessibility:

All very important, sure.

But there is another form of accessibility we talk about far less: language. Something I learned a long time ago when I was involved in launching a public transport website in the Netherlands.

Because even if somebody can physically enter a museum, that does not automatically mean they can connect with, or even understand, the story being told.

The invisible barrier

A lot of museum texts are written by experts, curators, historians, and people who live and breathe the subject. Which makes sense, that is how they got into the job and why they chose a career in the cultural sector

But the problem is: Most visitors are not experts.

Some visitors:

And often they will never say that out loud. They just stopped reading. Not because they are incapable. Not because they are not interested. But because the text asks too much attention before giving something back.

Expertise is not the same as accessibility

I noticed this myself recently after buying an older car.

The moment somebody (usually a mechanic who look at me and thinks “that guy knows all about cars”) with a lot of car knowledge starts throwing around engine codes, abbreviations, technical specs, and other pointless facts, I mentally drop out surprisingly fast.

Not because I don’t care.

But because I simply do not speak that language well enough.

And I think museums sometimes run into exactly the same problem.

Curators and specialists know their subject inside out. What feels logical to them can already feel overwhelming to a visitor within two sentences.

The gap between expertise and accessibility is often much smaller than we think.

Attention part of accessibility?

Accessibility is not only: “Can somebody enter the building?”

It is also: “Can somebody actually follow the story?”

Those are two completely different things.

Because museums no longer compete only with other museums.

They compete with:

That changes how people consume information.

Long texts and complicated language may contain valuable knowledge, but they also ask for a level of focus many visitors simply no longer have, or better said choose not to have

And honestly, many visitors do not want to feel like they need to pass an exam before they are allowed to enjoy a story. When I go to an exhibition about chocolate, I drop out a lot faster than when it’s about whisky, or beer. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about chocolate, but the challenge to get me interested is a lot higher than with the other 2 topics.

A simple example

A traditional museum text might say something like:

“The artist explores the tension between industrialization and human identity through abstract forms, layered textures, and contrasting materials.”

Nothing is wrong with that sentence.

But for many visitors, it immediately creates distance. What the hell did I just read?

Now compare that to an A1-level version:

“The artist made this artwork to show how people and machines changed the world together. The different shapes and materials help tell that story.”

The goal is not to “dumb things down.” The goal is to create an entry point.

Because once people understand the basics, curiosity usually follows naturally (or doesn’t, but at least you gave it your best).

AI creates interesting opportunities

For a long time, creating multiple content versions was simply too expensive and time-consuming.

Now AI suddenly makes things possible that were difficult to scale before:

Not to replace curators.

But to help more people connect with the story. And maybe that is where accessibility and attention finally come together. Because technology should not only help people access content. It should help people stay engaged with it; it should spark their curiosity.

The goal is not less depth

The goal is not to remove complexity or depth from museums.

The goal is to help more visitors feel included once they are inside.