Accessibility

Towards Frictionless Augmented Reality

By Matt Davis

Author’s Note: Several months ago, putting on an Augmented Reality (AR) headset was an uncomfortable nuisance for museum visitors. Now, it’s a potential health risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the need for museums to rapidly …
Prioritizing Image Descriptions and Digital Equity at Cooper Hewitt

By Ruth Starr

During this time of crisis, it has never been more important to center access, equity, and inclusion in our response to the unknown. As we adapt quickly and shift our focus online, it is essential that we prioritize and commit to …
4 Tips for Effectively Reaching Visitors with Disabilities

By Dani Doughty

It’s been nearly three decades since the original Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was signed into law. Since the protective act was ratified, great strides have been made not just to prevent discrimination against people with …
Programming Through the Lens of Empathy

By Lorena Bradford

At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, two new public programs and one new high school tour are built on the premises that empathy is worth cultivating and listening to the perspectives of others is valuable.[1] These programs …
Dispelling Myths: Seven tips to build your museum partnership with the disability community

By Heather Irish and Christine Sonnabend

“We want our students to do more than just wipe tables,” said Lucas LaFaver, vocational coordinator at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, a DC-based charter school for students with intellectual disabilities. He’s passionate about creating …
Speechless: A sensory exhibition charts a new path to accessibility in learning

By Sarah Schleuning

Museums are constantly experimenting with how we can present content in ways that engage and inform a wide audience. Part of the challenge is to consider issues of accessibility and disability, to develop different ways of communicating …
Partnering with the Blind to Make Exhibits More Accessible

By Carrie Christoffersen, Anil Lewis, and John Olson

The opportunity to experience photography, art, and other museum exhibits can be life-altering to a blind person. “As a blind person, when I can experience a painting on my own without asking for help, that represents increased freedom, …
Welcoming Service Dogs to Your Museum

By Kristi Moore

Service dogs are becoming more common as the years go on, and as museum professionals it can be a challenge to welcome them in among our collections. We worry about hair and dander, physical damage, and health code violations. Most of us …
Sofa So Good: A word on behalf of older folks

By Bill Tramposch

I don’t know about you, but a career in museums has made it very difficult for me to be a satisfied museum visitor. I find that I am always peering into “how the sausage is made,” as it were, noticing how the front-of-house staff interact …
The Memory Café: Creating a museum program for people with dementia

By Norman Burns

At Conner Prairie—a Smithsonian Affiliate living history museum in Fishers, Indiana—we recently debuted a program for people with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. In partnership with the Central Indiana Council on Aging (CICOA) and Dementia …