Museums without obstacles: Making exhibitions and expositions accessible to special needs visitors (Múzeá bez bariér Sprístupňovanie výstav a expozícií pre návštevníkov so špeciálnymi potrebami)

Abstract

It is not only a legal obligation, but also a moral and ethical imperative, that every cultural institution make itself and its activities accessible to the public which includes people with various special needs. A careful analysis of these needs and the way to address them in a person‘s day-to-day life can be an inspiration for the creation of more accessible exhibtions and expositions. This paper analyzes several types of such accessibility-improving measures by type, e.g. a guiding line through the exhibition, labels in Braille, haptic models and audio-guides for those with visual impairments, videomonitors and sign-language guides for those with auditory impairments, improved physical access for those with reduced mobility and alike. Additionally, I highlight various small changes to the overall active and passive communication with the visitors that can be improved to access the exhibition‘s accessibility - after all, a well-prepared museum guide can often do much more to increase the visitors‘ engagement with the museum than any special tools. The final section of the paper contains a report on a survey of current exhibitions and expositions which are aimed at special needs visitors.

Keywords

• museum
• exhibition
• exposition
• special needs visitors
• accessibility