Text descriptions in museums provide detailed and rich information about artifacts that broadens museum visitors’ knowledge and enriches their experience. However, since deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals have low literacy compared to hearing people and communicate through sign language, museum descriptions are considerably limited in delivering a stimulating and informative environment for understanding and enjoying exhibits. To improve DHH individuals’ museum experience, we investigated the potential of three interactive description prototypes:
active-linked
,
graph-based
, and
chatbot-based
. A comparative study with 20 DHH participants confirmed that our interaction-based prototypes improve information accessibility and provide an enhanced experience compared to conventional museum descriptions. Most participants preferred the
graph-based
prototype, while post-interviews suggested that each prototype has potential benefits and limitations according to DHH individuals’ particular literacy skills and preferences. Text descriptions can be enlivened for DHH visitors by adding a simple interaction functionality, e.g., clicking, which can lead to a better museum experience.
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