TRAMA research group member Vanessa Gumier from the Universitat Jaume I has created the audio description in Valencian and Spanish of the Convento de Jerusalén–Matemático Marzal Falla in Valencia
The audio guide, narrated by Francisco Campaña Romano, uses NaviLens codes, a technology that allows the code to be read without needing to focus so precisely and identifies it aloud
image: Vanessa Gumier, a researcher in the Translation for Audiovisual Media and Accessibility research group (TRAMA) at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, has created an audio description in Valencian and Spanish for the special-category Convento de Jerusalén–Matemático Marzal Falla in Valencia, enabling people with visual impairments to learn about the elements that make up the Fallas monument. The audio guide, narrated by Francisco Campaña Romano, uses NaviLens codes, a technology that allows the code to be read without needing to focus so precisely and identifies it aloud. Over the past two Fallas campaigns (2024 and 2025), the researcher has applied a participatory action research methodology that includes observing accessibility in the monuments and conducting focus groups with blind people, accessibility specialists, Fallas artists and Fallas organisers. Groups from ONCE have visited both the main Falla and the two 'ninots' that took part in the exhibition for the selection of the 'ninots indultats', and they evaluated the project through a survey. In addition, Vanessa Gumier is in contact with the Inclusión Fallera Association of Valencia, which last year launched a project to systematise the accessibility of Fallas monuments, involving 58 Fallas in Valencia. Until now, the accessibility measure available for blind people was an accessible PDF, that is, readable by screen readers. The PDF included a brief explanation or the script (critique), but it did not describe the scenes. Based on this lack of visual description, the aim of the thesis is to introduce the concept of audio description and, if it proves useful (according to the survey results), to develop a ten-point guideline that Inclusión Fallera and Fallas committees can use as a reference in the future. More information about the project is available on the thesis website, which includes publications, catalogues derived from the observations carried out in 2024 and 2025, and the audio guides for 2025 and 2026: https://sites.google.com/uji.es/fallasparatodos/inicio?authuser=0
Credit: Vanessa Gumier (UJI)
Vanessa Gumier, a researcher in the Translation for Audiovisual Media and Accessibility research group (TRAMA) at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, has created an audio description in Valencian and Spanish for the special-category Convento de Jerusalén–Matemático Marzal Falla in Valencia, enabling people with visual impairments to learn about the elements that make up the Fallas monument.
The audio guide, narrated by Francisco Campaña Romano, uses NaviLens codes, a technology that allows the code to be read without needing to focus so precisely and identifies it aloud. Over the past two Fallas campaigns (2024 and 2025), the researcher has applied a participatory action research methodology that includes observing accessibility in the monuments and conducting focus groups with blind people, accessibility specialists, Fallas artists and Fallas organisers.
Groups from ONCE have visited both the main Falla and the two 'ninots' that took part in the exhibition for the selection of the 'ninots indultats', and they evaluated the project through a survey. In addition, Vanessa Gumier is in contact with the Inclusión Fallera Association of Valencia, which last year launched a project to systematise the accessibility of Fallas monuments, involving 58 Fallas in Valencia.
This audio description work forms part of a doctoral thesis project funded by the Valencian Government (ACIF/2022/246) entitled “Fallas for everyone: an approach to accessibility for blind people at the Fallas of the Valencian Community.” The thesis, supervised by Irene de Higes (TRAMA research group) within the Doctoral Programme in Applied Languages, Literature and Translation at the Universitat Jaume I, arises from the need to guarantee equal access to culture for everyone. It examines how the Fallas of the Valencian Community could be made accessible for blind people, taking as a reference the accessibility of sculptures in museums.
Until now, the accessibility measure available for blind people was an accessible PDF, that is, readable by screen readers. The PDF included a brief explanation or the script (critique), but it did not describe the scenes. Based on this lack of visual description, the aim of the thesis is to introduce the concept of audio description and, if it proves useful (according to the survey results), to develop a ten-point guideline that Inclusión Fallera and Fallas committees can use as a reference in the future.
More information about the project is available on the thesis website, which includes publications, catalogues derived from the observations carried out in 2024 and 2025, and the audio guides for 2025 and 2026:
https://sites.google.com/uji.es/fallasparatodos/inicio?authuser=0