Our staff who are involved in our Breaking Barriers accessibility project and our Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) initiative have collaborated on a white paper, “Breaking Barriers, Or: How We Learned to Stop Fretting and Make Cultural Organizations More Accessible.”
From the white paper: “It is estimated that over 1 million residents and visitors of Utah are living with a disability. A survey of Utah constituents showed that many patrons with disabilities choose to not attend arts and cultural activities because they know or assume that the event is not accessible. The reach and impact of arts, culture, and museums on society, along with the number of people across the country and the state with disabilities, indicates the need to ensure these spaces, their opportunities, and their programs are accessible to all potential users.”
Read more about the problem, and its solutions, at this link. And for an accessible copy of the PDF, please contact Michelle Mileham at mmileham@utah.gov.
Image: A visitor who is blind experiences “Touching the Prado” by feeling his way along a 3-D replica of the Mona Lisa, painted by an apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci. Photograph by Ignacio Hernando Rodriguez, courtesy of Museo del Prado. Published by Museums + Heritage.