The Art of Access: A Practical Guide for Museum Accessibility is a one-stop guide to the incremental ways your museum can build a comprehensive approach to accessibility that can be easily integrated into the fabric of your museum. Highlights include: Consultation with leaders in the field and calling on practitioners from across the disciplines (art, science, history, business, living collections) Concrete examples and specific resources Partnerships Physical/environmental access Sensory access Inclusive spaces, exhibitions, and programs Staff training and institutional buy-in Each chapter presents practical actions that any museum or cultural institution (regardless of the size, budget, or scope) can take to better engage and welcome visitors of all ages and abilities. This book will illuminate the incremental ways in which accessibility can be easily integrated into the fabric of museums, thus enabling institutions to better engage with audiences who would otherwise not visit the museum.
Heather Pressman has worked in museum education, development, and communications. She is a founding member of the organizing committee for the Art of Access Alliance in Denver, a consortium working to make Denver's arts and cultural attractions accessible to all. Danielle Schulz is the senior manager of lifelong learning and accessibility at the Denver Art Museum, where she works with community members to promote inclusive practices that ensure visitors of all ages and abilities can enjoy and be inspired by their interaction with art.
Dedication Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1: Different, Not Less: Essential Background Chapter 2: Won't You be our Neighbor: Partnerships, Part I Chapter 3: Nothing About Us Without Us: Partnerships, Part II Chapter 4: Environmental Access: The ADA and Inclusive Design Chapter 5: Not an Afterthought: Cognitive Access Chapter 6: A Spectrum of Experience: Sensory Access Chapter 7: A Whole New World Wide Web: Digital Access Chapter 8: Dollars and Sense: Financial Access Chapter 9: A Word About Words: Communications Chapter 10: If You Build It They Will Come: Inclusive Exhibitions and Programming Chapter 11: All Aboard: Professional Development and Staff Training Chapter 12: You Are on the Road to Welcome Appendix A: Resources to Continue Your Journey Appendix B: Questions to Get Started with Museum Accessibility Appendix C: Glossary Bibliography About the Authors
