The Challenge of Accessibility to Heritage around the Via Francigena: The Potential of Thermal Heritage for Accessible Tourism

: The Via Francigena stands as a European Cultural Route recognized by the Council of Europe, serving as a link between Northern and Southern Europe, extending from Canterbury through France and Switzerland to Rome in Italy. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights underscores the right of all individuals to partake in the cultural life of their communities, which entails ensuring that heritage sites remain accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical, cognitive or sensory abilities. To achieve this, the ‘rurAllure’ project has been initiated to promote and disseminate the cultural and natural heritage along this pilgrimage route in an inclusive manner. This paper reviews the existing resources regarding accessibility in the Italian segment of the Via Francigena, comparing them to initiatives undertaken on other European Cultural Routes. This serves as an initial step to comprehend the measures required to guarantee that everyone can fully engage with and comprehend these cultural experiences. The analysis revealed that most of the limited accessibility efforts along this route have primarily focused on physical accessibility. Regrettably, cognitive and sensory accessibility has received considerably less attention. In this context, this paper proposes the thermal heritage located along the Val d’Orcia section in Tuscany, Italy, as particularly promising for the development of accessible experiences due to its tactile characteristics. The future efforts to enhance accessibility along this route should consider approaches like Universal Design for Learning and the geography of perception to create resources and new experiences that cater to a wide range of individuals.


Introduction
European pilgrimage routes are not only spiritual journeys but also cultural treasures, and several of them-such as the Way of St. James, the Via Francigena, the Via Romea Strata and the St. Olav Ways-are recognized as European Cultural Routes by the Council of Europe.As European Cultural Routes, these pilgrimage routes contribute to the preservation and promotion of Europe's cultural heritage.They provide a platform for intercultural dialogue, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the diverse traditions and histories that have shaped the European continent.
Pilgrimage routes, like other cultural routes, comprise a complex compound of tangible and intangible cultural heritage as well as natural heritage and cultural landscapes.Pilgrimage tourism highlights the interdependence of locations and the essential need for travel to fulfil the purpose of a visit along a pilgrimage route [1].Pilgrimage tourism has increased in the last few years and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims with different motivations (spiritual or cultural aspects, wanting new experiences, the nature and sports experience) visit these routes [2].As a result, the question of their accessibility is becoming increasingly more pertinent, and unlike other forms of heritage, it remains an underexplored area of research.
As for any other cultural experience, full accessibility to pilgrimage routes and their associated heritage is paramount; indeed, article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: "everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits" [3].Further, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states in its first article that its purpose is "to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities" [4].
Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others (article 1, CRPD) [4].Moreover, in addition to long-term impairments, most people experience, to a certain extent, short-term impairments during their lives (due to injuries or other situations) when they may benefit from a specific accessibility measure.
In the last few years, the issue of accessibility to different types of heritage has been amply researched, e.g., [5][6][7], and several conceptual frameworks have been proposed as to what elements need to be considered to design a fully accessible experience, e.g., [7][8][9].In brief, for a heritage asset to be considered fully accessible, it needs to address the different aspects that may hinder the participation of a person and be ambulatory accessible/cognitively accessible/sensorially accessible.

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Being ambulatory accessible means people with functional limitations that cause them to be semi-ambulatory or non-ambulatory may readily enter, leave and circulate within;

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Being cognitively accessible means people with functional limitations caused by impairments of cognition can readily access information in a comprehensive way;

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Being sensorially accessible means people with functional limitations caused by impairments of sight or hearing can access the full information presented.
In addition to this, there are other aspects of accessibility proposed by different authors, such as "appropriational accessibility" [9] and "economic accessibility" [10], but the three above-mentioned aspects cover the basic principles of "access and understanding" stated in the ICOMOS Charter of Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural Heritage Sites [11].Although many of the attempts for evaluating accessibility focus on physical accessibility [12,13], there are also proposals to address cognitive accessibility [14] and sensory accessibility, particularly through generating accessible narratives [15].
Efforts are being made to ensure the accessibility and sustainability of pilgrimage routes, encouraging pilgrims, tourists and locals to engage with their cultural significance [16,17].In this context, the European project 'rurAllure' (https://rurallure.eu/accessed on 5 November 2023) emerged to promote and disseminate the cultural heritage surrounding these pilgrimage routes in an accessible way.To achieve this goal, a technological platform is being developed within the project, bringing together various sites and cultural assets of interest, linking them to local services such as accommodation, dining and transportation.The aim is to create a comprehensive tourism product that enhances and extends the overall pilgrimage experience.
The technological platform will present narratives and experiences that highlight this heritage from various perspectives, leveraging new technologies and diverse tools while ensuring accessibility for all audiences, making heritage an inclusive and universal experience.In the framework of these developments, the project needs to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy and understand these experiences.
This paper aims to understand what needs to be done and how in the frame of this project to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy and understand the cultural experiences around pilgrimage routes.This can be achieved by focusing on analysing the resources available to the wider public about accessibility in the Italian stretch of the Via Francigena.The available resources are compared to the framework concerning accessibility to heritage along European Cultural Routes and other pilgrimage routes to elaborate new analysis about how to bring heritage closer to pilgrims, visitors and locals.Furthermore, this paper investigates the essential characteristics that narratives and other cultural experiences should encompass to ensure full accessibility, using thermal heritage as a case in point to improve cognitive and sensory accessibility.

Methodology
According to our objectives, a comprehensive review was conducted to establish a framework for addressing accessibility concerns in the documentation related to European Cultural Routes, and to examine how other pilgrimage routes tackle the issue of accessibility.
In addition to this, we identified the existing resources available to the public regarding accessibility along the Italian segment of the Via Francigena.The Via Francigena was chosen as one of the case studies within the rurAllure project.This decision stemmed from the fact that, in recent years, this route has not garnered as much popularity as some other pilgrimage routes, such as the Camino de Santiago.However, it has been heavily marketed as a pilgrimage tourism destination in recent times.
Our search for existing resources included a literature review of case studies specifically addressing accessibility to heritage sites along the Via Francigena route.Additionally, we explored information available on websites accessible to the general public, as these resources are the most likely to be consulted by individuals with disabilities.
Considering this information and the various types of heritage sites identified along the route within the framework of the rurAllure project, a theme for future targeted accessibility initiatives was selected.Also, a geographical area where these accessibility initiatives could be developed was identified.This proposal was selected based on the available information, the haptic qualities of the area and its potential for what is referred to as "appropriational accessibility" [9].
The primary methodological considerations that should be considered for future accessibility design projects, drawing from insights provided by existing literature, are also discussed.Specifically, the principles of Universal Design for Learning, and different methodological options from geography-such as the precepts of the geography of perception and the utilities offered by geotechnologies such as GIS-are discussed.

Overview of Existing Resources on Accessibility in European Cultural Routes Documentation
The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) mentions to accessibility and different publics in the rules for the award of the "Cultural Route of the Council of Europe" certification are scarce, and the only mention is the need to "make the texts more accessible to all types of public" [18], but there is no a specific mention to accessibility for people with disabilities.The ICOMOS Charter of Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural Heritage Sites [11] refers to "Access and Understanding" (Principle 1) and "Concern for Inclusiveness" (Principle 6).However, the mention to these concepts in relation to disability or functional diversity is not specified.
Indeed, explicit mentions to accessibility for people with disabilities in the documents, publications and resources of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe are scarce and focus on ambulatory accessibility, and the Secretariat of the European Institute of Cultural Routes does not yet have any specific publication on this.In Strasbourg in June 2016, the Institute organised a meeting dedicated to the accessibility of Cultural Routes in Europe, but there is no online documentation on the results.
Nevertheless, there are mentions on this subject, particularly in the "Good Practice" sections of these documents.For example, the Activity Report of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Programme for 2019 reports the attempts of the route "In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson" to increase the accessibility of the trails to people with disabilities through organised hikes in which people with physical disabilities were accompanied by people without a recognized disability, to show the cultural heritage to everyone [19].
The INTERREG-Central Europe's "Good Practice Catalogue of existing certified cultural routes" states that "A consistent accessibility on the sights/routes and websites must be a fundamental condition for visitors with any impairment (visual, hearing, mobility, intellectual)" [20].However, there are very few comprehensive resources that inform the possible traveller with an accessibility impairment and, often, the regulations on disabled people's access to online tourist information are not applied correctly, particularly in Southern European countries [21].It must be noted that tourists with special requirements in relation to accessibility need to have all the information on this matter beforehand to choose a destination [22].The "Visit Dolomites site" [23] is one of the best examples of good practices on comprehensive information about accessible sites that can be used by tourists with disabilities to choose this site as a destination.

Overview on Existing Resources on Accessibility along Pilgrimage Routes and the Via Francigena
In the case of pilgrimage routes, most efforts have focused on ambulatory accessibility.The "Camino de Santiago" (Way of St James) is arguably the route with more resources in relation to this, as there are specific guides published that try to facilitate people with disabilities specific information on the accessibility of different stretches of the Camino and of the touristic offer associated.
In addition to paperback guides [24,25], there are online resources that offer comprehensive information on accessibility, such as the guide developed by Ibermutua [26] and the app developed by the Spanish National Association for Blind People (ONCE) [27].
In relation to Via Francigena, the FAQ section of its website recognises the lack of an organised list of accessible structures.Only ambulatory accessibility (both for wheelchair users and people with visual impairment) receives a mention, and the website advises an individual assessment of the route and accommodation for people with other disabilities.
In the context of the Via Francigena, the analysis of Sciduro and D'Angeli [28] of good and bad practices around the Via Francigena in the context of Italian legislation is particularly relevant.This analysis focuses mainly on the existence of cyclable routes that would allow ambulatory accessibility.
Among other scarce proposals, some accessibility-related projects on this route can be highlighted, such as: (a) The accessibility project of Fidenza Cathedral: the Via Francigena for everybody includes direct access to the Cathedral's south entrance and its apse connected to the parking lot, as well as an aluminium platform that facilitates the entrance into the Cathedral through a swing door [29].(b) The "Never Stop!" project by the Toscana Hiking Experience [30], supported by the European Association of Via Francigena Ways plus other regional bodies and associations, among others.This project acquired a "Joëlette" (an off-road wheelchair) in early 2019 and has since launched a series of fundraising campaigns to acquire different aids to promote the participation of people with disabilities in their guided activities.(c) The ongoing project of "Free Wheels onlus" towards creating a hardcopy of an accessible Via Francigena guide (as previously mentioned for the "Camino" [24,25]).
The project 'the Via Francigena for everyone' was started in 2016 by C'era l'Acca Società Cooperativa Social on a section of the Aosta Valley of about 2 km, from the Monastery Mater Misericordiae to the Castello di Quart, near the regional capital.Since then, this project has implemented interventions aimed at improving accessibility, particularly for people with sensory disabilities, mild motor disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities.It has also promoted the employability of people with disabilities.This association offers consultancy to individuals and tourist operators for designing accessible tourism activities.Several of its online resources are now "under construction" [31].
Some of these experiences were presented in the previously mentioned meeting dedicated to the accessibility of Cultural Routes in Europe, which was organized by the European Institute of Cultural Routes in Strasbourg in June 2016.Also, some regions crossed by the Via Francigena in Italy have online information on available accessible tourist resources, such as Valle d'Aosta [32], Piemonte [33], Umbria [34], Lombardia [35] or Parma [36].
But, again, the focus is on ambulatory accessibility and there are no specific resources for Via Francigena, except for the "lombardiafacile" site [35] that includes a section on Via Francigena within "Accessible Tourism/Religious Itineraries".
Overall, despite these initiatives, most of them are mainly focused on ambulatory accessibility and, to a minor extent, sensory accessibility (inasmuch it may affect mobility).Therefore, there is a lack of resources available in relation to sensory and, particularly, cognitive accessibility to information on heritage sites around the route.As such, there is a lack of comprehensive easy-to-access summaries of accessibility to resources relevant to the entire Via Francigena or any of its stretches (except for Lombardia).Accessibility information is mainly limited to museums and focused on wheelchair users and semiambulatory access.An example of this would be the answer to "is the visit adapted to everyone?" of the Museo Minerario di Abbadia San Salvatore [37], which only focuses on wheelchair access.
Information on other types of accessibility (cognitive and sensorial) is very scarce.Thus, in the frame of this project and future initiatives, it is important to develop narratives and experiences that could overcome this shortfall.

Discussion
The focus on accessibility along pilgrimage routes, including the Via Francigena, has primarily been on ensuring physical accessibility along the route itself.However, there is a notable lack of resources and information regarding the accessibility of the cultural and natural heritage surrounding the route.Moreover, there is a significant scarcity of resources and information available for cognitive and sensorial accessibility.Consequently, a large portion of the population faces limitations in fully experiencing and appreciating the cultural and natural wonders found along these routes.
Therefore, it is vital for stakeholders to intensify their efforts in designing resources and experiences to bridge this accessibility gap.This requires the creation of a culture and environment that prioritize comprehensive accessibility to cultural and natural resources.By doing so, visitors will not only have the means to reach these valuable heritage assets, but also the opportunity to fully appreciate them based on their individual abilities.
To achieve this goal, it is important to present the message about the value of heritage in a clear and understandable manner once visitors arrive at the site.Additionally, a well-designed signposting strategy is necessary to guide visitors to and within the heritage assets, considering the way that they perceive and navigate their environment.

Thermal Heritage of Val d'Orcia as a Target for Creating Accessible Experiences
After examining the different cultural and natural heritage assets along the Italian stretch of the Via Francigena, the authors propose, as an example, the thermal heritage in Val d'Orcia (Tuscany) as a good starting point to design from scratch accessible pilgrimage tourism experiences.
This area is proposed for several reasons:

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The preliminary inspection of resources on accessibility widely available for the Val d'Orcia stretch of Via Francigena showed there were no readily available and comprehensive online resources on the accessibility of most sites in a greater extent than other areas crossed by this route.

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Since 2004, Val d'Orcia has been listed as a Cultural Landscape in the World Heritage Sites list, and it shows a unique combination of interrelated natural and cultural heritage sites related to thermalism that can be presented in a joint narrative.

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Thermalism is the use of thermal mineral waters for health benefits.It has a large tradition in the area of Val d'Orcia and some of the most ancient testimonies of thermal spas dating from the Etruscan and Roman times when this type of building was developed.As Deffner et al. defined [9], appropriational accessibility is the apex of accessibility in which the visitor may feel emotionally attached and connected with a heritage asset, feeling it as an extension of his/herself.The author of this paper considered that the combination of cultural, geological and health tourism may have a special appeal for visitors with disabilities.

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Indeed, one of the pilot projects of rurAllure focuses on the thermal heritage of the Italian section of the Via Romea Strata and Via Francigena.Thermal heritage includes natural (mainly geological), cultural and intangible heritage associated to the use of thermal waters.Specifically, the itinerary of Via Francigena has a vast heritage linked to the presence of thermal water that naturally gushes out nearby.Many of the Points of Interest suggested in the pilot study of Val d'Orcia [38] possess haptic characteristics, such as the flavours of the water, the temperature of the springs and the smell of volcanic emissions (e.g., Acqua Puzzola, Piensa).Additionally, there are opportunities to provide a sense of place through auditory elements and vibrations (e.g., Museo Minerario di Abbadia San Salvatore).Therefore, thermal heritage has immense potential to offer visitors a multisensory experience, creating a rich cultural experience accessible to a wide audience in addition to the health benefits associated to the use of thermal waters.

Designing Cognitive and Sensorial Accessible Resources around the Via Francigena
As most of the existing resources addressing accessibility in the context of pilgrimage routes deal with ambulatory accessibility, future efforts need to focus on providing cognitive and sensorial accessible experiences.From the existing literature on accessibility, two methodologies are considered basic to design these experiences: Universal Design for Learning and the geography of perception and digital technology.

Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is defined by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) as a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn [39].Universal design originally started in the field of architecture and referred to designs that could be accessed and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.
Since then, the concept of universal design has been adapted to be applied to different fields, with CRPD Article 4f highlighting that one of the general obligations of the signatory countries is "to undertake or promote research and development of universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities" [4].
UDL is the application of this to education.Although the focus of UDL principles is mainly formal education, they are mostly valid in the context of "informal learning" proposed by the narratives created within the frame of rurAllure.Therefore, it is important that pilot narratives follow the main UDL guidelines [40]: Engagement: Looking for ways to motivate visitors and sustain their interest by letting them have choices and offer information that could feel relevant to their lives.
Representation: Offering information in more than one format; for example, audio, video, easy-to-read texts, pictograms or hands-on experiences.
Action and expression: Giving visitors the opportunity to express themselves and interact with the information.
Engagement strategies are particularly important when offering narratives of Points of Interest that may be further away from the pilgrimage route so to motivate pilgrims to take a break on their pilgrimage route.Some characteristics of an engaging narrative are:

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It is aimed at the general public; Offering alternative representations is key to overcoming impairments in accessing the information (e.g., for people with visual and/or hearing impairments) and cognitive barriers.
The design of an alternative format of information should not be a mere translation or transposition of information from one format to other.For example, it is not uncommon to find braille "mere translations" of panels in viewpoints that do not consider that the braille readers do not have the visual information that a person without a visual impairment can have, so they need an additional description.Also, audio guides may not be useful for people with visual impairment if they do not contain audio descriptions.
Furthermore, a hard-to-read written description may not be understandable for some people with hearing impairments who are native sign language speakers, so video sign language guides are a preferred option for sign language speakers.
Easy-to-read texts following the European standards for making information easy to read and understand [41] are an alternative to make information accessible to people with intellectual disabilities, but also to some people with hearing impairments, people with learning difficulties, children and people with poor reading skills.
Pictograms are another alternative for offering information to people with intellectual disabilities or who are unable to read.Entities such as Aragon's Center of Augmentative and Alternative Communication provide pictograms libraries published under Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA [42].
Ideally, all these forms of representation should be presented together and considering two important aspects to guarantee an inclusive access to the information: plenitude of the information and resources publicity: Plenitude of information refers to the right of every person to access the full message that wants to be conveyed in a specific heritage site, according to their needs.Quite often in museums and other heritage sites there are activities or documents specifically designed for people with disabilities that offer an "alternative" instead of an "adapted" message.Although the information may be tuned to cater to the specific needs of certain group of visitors, the core message ought to be maintained.
Resources publicity refers to the unlikelihood that a visitor with special needs will engage in an activity without knowing beforehand if there will be resources available to suit his/her needs.It is unlikely a person will have an intrinsic motivation to visit a place without knowing its existence or if he/she is going to be able to enjoy it.In this specific case, it will be more likely that a person with a disability will be motivated to do the Via Francigena and visit the associated heritage sites if he/she knows beforehand that there will be resources to do so.
Finally, giving visitors the possibility of action and expression is core for community engagement, as visitors construct their own meaning from cultural experiences as referred by Nina Simon in her book "The Participatory Museum" [43].
Strategies like gamification, which could mirror the process of obtaining the stamps for a visitor's "Pilgrim's Credential", are worth exploring to encourage a pilgrim to visit different sites.

Geography of Perception and Digital Technology, Key Elements in the Preparation and Implementation of Narratives and Resources
In addition to creating accessible resources and materials following the principles of Universal Design for Learning, it is essential to develop an effective signposting strategy that guides visitors to and within the heritage assets.
The vast array of technological options available can be tailored to suit various accessibility needs.It is important to acknowledge that space is a subjective reality, as emphasized by Lemus and Urquia [44].Each individual perceives their environment differently based on their unique characteristics.Kevin Lynch introduced the concept of the geography of perception in the 1960s, which considers not only quantitative aspects, but also psychology and people's ideas in a distinct manner [45].This becomes particularly relevant when analysing the specific human group under examination.
Geotechnologies, traditionally associated with the field of geography, have now found widespread use in today's society.Well-known examples include Google Maps and Google Earth, which are predominantly used for daily mobility purposes.However, these technologies also have a significant impact on activities such as mobility along pilgrimage routes, particularly for individuals with reduced mobility, visual impairment or other special needs.Bringing these individuals closer to the territory by developing cartographic products that reflect their reality and specific needs becomes a fundamental goal.
To accurately recreate people's reality cartographically, modern geotechnologies offer numerous options that facilitate this task.Over time, various technological alternatives have emerged, simplifying the work involved in projects aligned with this approach.The key distinction from traditional cartography lies in the requirement for fieldwork.Workshops and guided routes must be conducted within the actual space to capture participants' impressions.
To accomplish this, prior planning of a data model is necessary to capture these impressions and subsequently develop and reconstruct a mental map.When it comes to data collection in the field, free software such as Qfield presents a competitive option in the current market.Once the data have been gathered, the subsequent step involves integrating them into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and preparing them for representation, while considering the characteristics of the target audience.For example, for individuals with visual impairments, 3D models can be an impactful alternative.Additionally, special symbology plays a crucial role in mental maps, particularly in ensuring accessibility.
Addressing these particular needs has led to the establishment of international organizations dedicated to their cause, such as the International Cartographic Association's (ICA) Commission on Maps and Graphics for Blind and Partially Sighted People.Furthermore, the effectiveness of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in developing specialized products has been demonstrated in various international conferences [46].
The challenge lies not in the software itself but in the geodata that is utilized.Geodata refers to any data that include a clear reference to a specific location on the map.Traditional cartography primarily focuses on abstracting reality from a global perspective, but in this context, other needs must be considered.The objective is to capture reality from the perspective of different groups, ensuring their specific requirements are met throughout the development process.
Geography also offers additional solutions, such as the use of volunteered geographic information and the concept of geography of perception.Volunteered geographic information has been widely used in various contexts, leading to the development of major projects within these communities.Examples include OpenStreetMaps and OSGEO.Geocrowdsourcing, in particular, plays a significant role in mapping for people with disabilities, harnessing public data contributions that are challenging to capture using traditional mapping workflows [47] (p.270).On the other hand, the geography of perception ensures the capture of people's unique spatial perspectives, which is particularly valuable for groups with special needs [48].The outcome is the creation of mental maps that complement traditional cartography.

Conclusions
This review underscores the importance of constantly considering the wide array of scenarios that arise when making heritage accessible to the public.By doing so, it enables anyone interested to better understand, appreciate and preserve both cultural and natural heritage.The analysis of accessibility to the heritage in the Italian section of the Via Francigena in Tuscany, Italy, conducted within the European project 'rurAllure,' reveals that most accessibility efforts so far primarily focus on physical accessibility.Unfortunately, there is a lack of available resources specifically addressing sensory and cognitive accessibility to information about heritage sites along the route.
Thermal heritage serves as an outstanding example, showcasing various ways to unite these forms of heritage and convey them to the public through a multi-sensory approach, allowing all visitors to fully engage with and appreciate the environment.For instance, the sense of smell and taste can be employed to differentiate between different types of mineral waters and their potential health benefits.The sense of touch can deepen one's understanding of temperature, water density and composition.Sound, in turn, enhances the perception of a water landscape and contributes to its unique atmosphere.
The geography of perception can serve as a valuable tool in highlighting these qualities, making the heritage experience more enriching and inclusive, revealing aspects that might otherwise remain hidden if only the visual elements are focused on.In accordance with the Universal Design for Learning principles, this enrichment of the experience benefits not only visitors with disabilities, but also the general public.Data Availability Statement: Data sharing is not applicable to this article.