Accessibility

Visitors with Vision Loss

By Nina Levent and Christine Reich

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2012 issue of Museum magazine, a benefit of AAM membership. Art Beyond Sight/Art Education for the Blind (ABS) encourages the visual arts to play a vital role in the lives of people who …
Ethics and the Distributed Museum

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’m wrestling with the draft report of “Forecasting the Future of Museum Ethics.” One of the most delightful things about this project is that, despite the constraints of format (multiple choice and free text in an online survey) the …
Forecasting the Future of Accessibility: Please Touch or Don’t Touch?

By Elizabeth Merritt

I wish I could preview my Inbox from 2036. How come Outlook doesn’t have an option for that? As a member of AAM’s staff Ethics Taskforce, I help answer plaintive, irate, indignant and panicked questions that come over our email. So I have …
A Global View of the Future

By Elizabeth Merritt

Bonjour, привует, Guten Tag, سلام ! This is a shout-out to and call for input from CFM’s international followers. In the past month, the traffic to this blog has come from: United States: 5,634 France: 1,173 Canada: 334 United Kingdom: …
What’s the Point of a Museum Website?

By Elizabeth Merritt

Ignite Smithsonian. Many of you have probably already heard that on April 11 the auditorium of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian was packed from 10 a.m.– 12:30 p.m. with people talking about museums, technology …
Thoughts on the Digitization of Museum Collections

By Elizabeth Merritt

When The Pinky Show asked attendees of the 2010 AAM Annual Meeting what they thought about the digitization of museum collections, it was on no one’s radar that Google was planning to do exactly that with the Google Art Project. …
Full Spectrum: Addressing the Needs of Kids with Autism

By Lisa Jo Rudy

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2011 edition of the Museum magazine. An average sixth-grade class is touring your galleries. Most of the children are only mildly interested, but one or two are not only intrigued but …
Going Beyond: What Does Universal Design Look Like?

By American Alliance of Museums

Without a doubt, universal design and accessibility impact the exhibitions and public programs that museums produce. But how do you integrate those principles into your exhibits an…
Mining MyCulture: serving the community of creative consumers

By Elizabeth Merritt

The CFM report Museums & Society 2034 explored a trend we dubbed “MyCulture”—a rising generation demonstrating an extraordinarily high level of creative output and creative consumption. This week’s guest blogger, Allison Thurman, …
What Does Universal Design Look Like?

By American Alliance of Museums

AAM hosted a webinar (“Universal Design: Beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act”) in collaboration with Smithsonian Affiliations—and made possible through the generosity of the Smithsonian Women’s Committee—in October 2010 to address …