Alistair Hardaker | Image: the audio guide interface © 2026 The Trustees of the British Museum
The guide can be sped up or slowed down to help manage visitor flow along the tapestry.
British Museum trustee and host of TV show The Traitors, Claudia Winkleman, has narrated a new audio guide for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.
The 25-minute narrated journey has been built into the British Museum Audio app.
The guide has been introduced more than a month after the exhibition opened. In September, a blind man launched legal action against the museum, alleging that the absence of audio description for the exhibition discriminated against blind visitors by denying them equal access. Asked about the claim at the time, the museum said the guide was planned.
Groningen-based creative tech agency Tapart has designed and produced the guide, ‘The Bayeux Tapestry Experience for The British Museum’, which was introduced last week and is free for visitors with an exhibition ticket. Tapart said the concept, design, script, sound and technology “came together in a few weeks” alongside the Exhibitions, Interpretation and Operations teams at The British Museum.
The agency said the audio guide has been produced in a way that “keeps visitors moving along the Tapestry at a pace that feels friendly to them, while helping the museum manage visitor flow”.
Produced with narration, sound effects and ambient audio, it is mixed on the visitor’s device and can be sped up or slowed down, responding to slow downs during busy periods.
The Bayeux Tapestry is on display at The British Museum in London until July 11, 2027.
