Welcoming All Visitors: Museums, Accessibility, And .

Welcoming All Visitors:Museums, Accessibility, andVisitors with DisabilitiesCaroline BradenGuest Accessibility/Special Needs AssistantThe Henry FordUniversity of MichiganWorking Papers in Museum Studies:Number 12 (2016)

Museum Studies ProgramCharles H. Sawyer Center for Museum StudiesUniversity of Michigan Museum of Art525 South State StreetAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1354Office phone: 734-936-6678Fax: .edu 2016 The Regents of University of MichiganAll rights reservedThe University of Michigan Museum Studies Program’s series of “Working Papers in Museum Studies” presents emergingresearch from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, all focused on the multiple concerns of the modern museum and heritage studies field. Contributions from scholars, members of the museum profession and graduate students are represented.Many of these papers have their origins in public presentations made under the auspices of the Museum Studies Program.We gratefully thank the authors published herein for their participation.Caroline Braden was a member of the 2013 cohort of the University of Michigan Museum Studies Program. Since her 2014graduation from the University of Michigan School of Education, she has been employed as Guest Accessibility/SpecialNeeds Assistant at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. She is a recent recipient of a Leadership Exchange in Arts andDisability (LEAD) Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Welcoming All Visitors: Museums, Accessibility,and Visitors with DisabilitiesCaroline Braden, The Henry FordIntroductionAccording to Americans with Disabilities: 2010, a reportby the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 56 million Americans, or over 20 percent of the U.S. population, have disabilities. By 2015, that number had grown by 2.2 millionand it is only likely to continue to rise in the years ahead(Leist, Levinsky-Raskin, and Stemler, 2015). The aging ofthe Baby Boom population, with approximately 20 percentof the U.S. population being over the age of 65 by the year2030, is likely to bring an increase in the number of peoplewith diminished eyesight, hearing, mobility, and cognition(Bienvenu, 2015). Also, the number of people affectedby developmental and cognitive disorders and diseases,such as autism and Alzheimer’s, is continually increasing.When family members and companions of people withdisabilities are included, these overall numbers becomeeven larger.More than ever before, people with disabilities are livingindependently and going out to explore places within theircommunities. However, a 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts conducted by the National Endowmentfor the Arts (NEA) found that adults with disabilitiescomprised less than seven percent of all adults attendingperformance events or visiting art museums or galleries(summarized in Bienvenu, 2015). Although 21 percent ofall adults visited an art museum or gallery in 2012, only11 percent of adults with disabilities made such a visit. Formuseums, people with disabilities represent a very largepotential audience that is beneficial to attract and retain.In her book, Programming for People with Special Needs:A Guide for Museums and Historic Sites (2014), KatieStringer touches upon the consequences for museums ofthe passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA). Under ADA, museums and other public spaceswere required to become accessible to all populations.This helped open the door for new audiences by providingguidelines for museums to make their spaces and programofferings more physically accessible. Increasingly,museums have been going beyond the legal obligations ofUM Working Papers in Museum Studies: Number 12 (2016)the ADA to enhance their service to all audiences, particularly focusing more recently upon serving visitors withdevelopmental and cognitive disabilities, such as autismand dementia.In addition, the very definition of what disability meansand how to address it has changed. Whereas disabilityused to be defined by a medical model and a diagnosis ofan individual’s functional limitations, it is now viewedmore as a status or group that anyone can join at any timeand that can be temporary or permanent (Stringer, 2014;Leist, Levinsky-Raskin, and Stemler, 2015). This shift inthinking has brought about a focus on removing barriers tomake places more accessible for and inclusive of all people, providing opportunities and education for people witha range of abilities, and encouraging people with disabilities to get involved as community members, advisors, anddecision makers.This paper provides an overview of the field of accessibility within museums—where it currently stands andthe direction it appears to be going. It begins with a lookat how the ADA has affected, and continues to influence,museums. This is followed by an exploration of some ofthe many ways that museums have tailored their exhibitions, offerings, programs, work with community groups,and staff training to be inclusive of people with differentkinds of disabilities. These examples come both frommuseums across the country and from my own experiences enhancing accessibility at The Henry Ford in Dearborn,Michigan. The examples are then connected to threebroader topics: the ongoing transformation of the museum,learning and visitors, and the value of museums forindividuals and to society. The paper concludes witha look at the future of the field of accessibility withinmuseums, particularly its potential for growth in the yearsahead.Museums and the ADAThe Americans with Disabilities Act grew out of adisability rights movement undertaken by a disability

community comprised of people with mobility, hearing,visual, and cognitive or developmental disabilities thatgained momentum after World War II (Stevens, 2015). Itpassed in 1990, following other related civil rights legislation. The ADA sought to guarantee equal access for peoplewith disabilities to employment, government programsand services, public accommodations, transportation, andcommunications (Stevens, 2015).2015, p. 3). The phrase was coined in the 1980s by architect, wheelchair user, and founder and program directorof the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina StateUniversity, Ronald Mace. He helped shift the conversationfrom one about meeting legally mandated requirementsin the design of products and environments to one aboutdesigning products and environments that benefit everyone(Hartley, 2015).Before the passage of the ADA, museums in the UnitedStates had varying levels of experience in accommodatingvisitors and staff with disabilities. Some museums wereahead of their time. The Metropolitan Museum of Art inNew York City, for example, held talks for blind schoolchildren as early as 1913, while the Boston Children’sMuseum opened a landmark exhibit in 1976, called “WhatIf You Couldn’t?,” that was designed to help children andtheir families better understand the challenges of livingwith a disability (Mohn, 2013; Stevens, 2015). In the 1970sand 1980s, various institutions began responding to theneeds of people with disabilities by adding ramps, curbcuts, accessible parking, new signage, large print versionsof labels, and other types of enrichment activities (Stevens,2015). However, expanding accessibility and inclusion was“not always a swift and universal process” and manymuseums had still not adapted inclusive changes for visitors with disabilities well into the 1980s (Stevens, 2015, p.27).Mace and the Center for Universal Design developedseven principles of Universal Design (Hartley, 2015, pp.42-43). The first of these is “equitable use,” the design isuseful and marketable to people with a range of abilities.Second is “flexibility in use,” the design accommodatesa wide variety of individual preferences and abilities.Third is “simple and intuitive use,” use of the design iseasy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience,knowledge, language skills, or concentration level. Fourthis “perceptible information,” the design communicatesnecessary information effectively to the user, regardless ofambient conditions or the user’s abilities. Fifth is “tolerance for error,” the design minimizes possible accidentalor unintended errors. Sixth is “low physical effort,” thedesign can be used efficiently and with a minimum offatigue. Seventh is “size and space for approach and use,”appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach,and use, regardless of the user’s body size or mobility.The passage of the ADA “really made people think,” statesBeth Ziebarth, Director of the Accessibility Program atthe Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. (Stevens,2015, p. 27). Museums started planning, budgeting for, andimplementing facility improvements. Museums also beganincorporating an increasing number of accommodationsand programs to enhance accessibility and inclusion forvisitors with a range of abilities. Typically, these offeringswent beyond the legal obligations of the ADA and represented a move towards a “greater emphasis on community, diversity, and inclusion” (Cohen-Stratyner, 2015, pp.64-65). In the sections that follow, I explore some of theseofferings and accommodations, particularly as they relateto exhibits, programming, work with community groups,and staff training.Universal Design and Inclusive MuseumExhibits“Universal Design” is broadly defined as “the design ofproducts and environments to be usable by all people, tothe greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (Hartley, 2015, p. 42). UniversalDesign enhances everyone’s experience and encouragesus to “put ourselves in another’s shoes” (Snyder-Grenier,UM Working Papers in Museum Studies: Number 12 (2016)Universal Design principles have been increasingly incorporated into the design of museum exhibits. To showcasesome examples and commemorate the 25th anniversaryof the passage of the ADA, the National Association forMuseum Exhibition (NAME) devoted the entire Fall 2015issue of its publication, Exhibitionist, to Universal Design.Several examples emerged as models of best practice inthe field.Staff at the White House Visitor Center in Washington,D.C. took Universal Design into consideration whenrenovating existing space and creating a new space between 2012 and 2014 (York, 2015). Within their new space,staff aimed to ensure that visitors of all abilities could beoriented to the exhibits and locations referenced in the exhibits by incorporating multiple modes of presenting andreceiving information (visual, tactile, and audio) into theirinterpretations of content (York, 2015).Figure 1 on the next page shows an example of UniversalDesign in a display at the White House Visitor Center.In this display, a raised, tactile map of a section of theWhite House is accompanied by Braille and three differentopportunities for tactile interaction (a piece of horsehairupholstery fabric once used on a chair in the Cross Hall, areproduction of a bison head carved on the State Dining4

Room mantel, and a reproduction of a doorknob from theNorth Portico Entry). While some of these features arespecifically aimed at creating a more meaningful experience for visitors who are visually impaired, they actuallyenhance the experience for all visitors by extending andadding to the information in labels and photographs. Inthis way, the exhibit takes visitors’ different needs andabilities into consideration by incorporating both visualand tactile representations of content.Figure 1: Universal Design in use in an exhibit at the White House VisitorCenter (Photograph by author).Through experiences with exhibit design, staff at theWhite House Visitor Center learned the importance ofincorporating design decisions that impact visitors with arange of abilities into the initial concept stages of design,as well as the need to budget for multiple ways of presenting information (York, 2015). They also di

performance events or visiting art museums or galleries (summarized in Bienvenu, 2015). Although 21 percent of all adults visited an art museum or gallery in 2012, only 11 percent of adults with disabilities made such a visit. For museums, people with disabilities represent a very large pot