Practical+Applications

People who are Blind or have Low Vision People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing People who have Mobility Impairments**
 * Practical Applications for:

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 * Practical Applications for People who are Blind or have Low Vision**
 * Many of the most successful programs for visitors who are blind or who have low vision have been developed at art museums. A few such programs:
 * The Philadelphia Museum of Art provides a number of different tours and points of contact for people who are blind. In addition to a braille floor plan, the museum offers an audio-described tour on three weeks' notice; small-group touch tours on a variety of topics, including modern and contemporary art, East Asian art, and European decorative arts and sculpture; and three-dimensional representations of paintings that include a visual description, raised-line and textured diagrams, and a 2- to 6-inch-think sculptural representation colored and textured to resemble the original subjects of the painting. [|Philadelphia Museum of Art: Accessibility]
 * The Guggenheim Museum in New York provides "Mind's Eye" tours, which are audio-described and touch tours, and which rely upon visitor questions and insights in dialogue with trained educators. [|Guggenheim Museum: Mind's Eye Tours]
 * The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York was a pioneer in developing programs for people who are blind, being among the first museums to offer touch tours, beginning in the 1970s. Since then, MoMA has continued to expand its programming for people who are blind or have low vision, including line drawings and audio descriptions of pieces, as well as a monthly "Art InSight" lecture, where a number of works of art on a common theme, or from a single exhibition or artist, are audio-described by an educator who also facilitates extensive explications and discussions of the art. On its website, MoMA offers a variety of "Visual Descriptions" for use before visitors arrive at the museum which can also be downloaded at MP3s for use during a visit. These include a description of the floorplan, MoMA's architecture, and a number of notable paintings, from Monet's "Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond" to Mondrian's "Broadway Boogie-Woogie." [|MoMA: Access Programs]
 * The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland provides touch tours in which both the tour guide and the visitors wear gloves and explore a number of sculptures in the permanent collection that come from different periods in art history. These tours are often enhanced by lectures and discussions; for instance, a tour of Greek and Roman art involves sharing myths from those cultures both vocally and via a Braille print-out. [|The Walters Art Museum: Accessibility]
 * History and science museums that deal in artifacts and specimens may use similar methods for making their exhibits more accessible to people who are blind or have low vision, including using replicas on touch tours and audio-describing interactive experiences.
 * The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in addition to Braille versions of the identification cards distributed upon entrance to the permanent exhibition, offers Guided Highlights Tours of the museum that involve a tactile reproduction of the unique museum space itself, replicas of major artifacts, and in-depth descriptions of artifacts that are not replicated. [|United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Accessibility Guide]
 * The Museum of Science, Boston offers an online "Accessibility Search" that visitors can use before arriving at the museum. In this search, potential visitors can check off the accommodations that would be needed, such as audio description or Braille text, and be informed of which exhibits include these amenities as well as where to locate them. For instance, visitors are told, "To hear audio descriptions or the audio version of the exhibit's written text, look for a one-inch square button near the lower left corner as you face the exhibit." [|Museum of Science, Boston Accessibility Search]
 * The Natural History Museum, London, offered large tactile replications of thirty aerial photographs to allow people who are blind to have access to the image in the "Earth from the Air" exhibition in 2003. Different textures represented different features, and, while complex images required a certain amount of audio description at the beginning, the tactile photographs seem to have been a success. [|Culture24 article on the Natural History Museum, London's project]
 * In 2004, a blind visitor to the International Spy Museum complained about the inaccessibility of the museum to people with disabilities. In 2008, in a landmark decision that has spurred other museums to be more aware and supportive of their visitors with disabilities, the Department of Justice ruled that the Spy Museum would be required to hire an ADA compliance officer, as well as make many other significant changes to both its offerings and its building. Among these are reducing the weight of bathroom doors, adding more wheelchair-accessible and companion seating in auditoria, providing tactile maps and samples or replicas for tactile examination, and captioning audiovisual displays. To date, the Spy Museum offers a raised floor map, a map of the tactile objects throughout the museum for sighted companions, a ninety-minute audio-described and touch tour, and a copy of the exhibition script that may be perused before visiting the museum. [|Department of Justice: Settlement Agreement Will Ensure Accessibility at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.]


 * Practical Applications for People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing**
 * Currently, not many museums have publically made their hearing impaired applications available to see via the internet. However, there are a few museums who have made such a push to make these services available without going to the museum itself. Many members of the deaf community want to know what services are available before they plan a visit in order to fully take advantage of any such innovations. How are a few such services that could be found on the internet for hearing impaired visitors:

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 * **Museum of Metropolitan Art-**
 * [|MoMA Audio] is an audio program devoted to the Museum's collection and special exhibitions. Four distinctive programs—Modern Voices, Modern Kids, Visual Descriptions, and Special Exhibitions—are available on one player.
 * MoMA Audio is T-Coil compatible, and transcripts of all audio programs are available upon request. MoMA Audio is available free of charge, courtesy of Bloomberg.
 * Public telephones with volume control and TTY are located on the ground floor, in the vestibule of the public restrooms (two regular and one TTY)
 * Interpreting MoMA Program, a program for deaf adults. Each program will begin with a wine and cheese reception, followed by a sign language–interpreted or voice-interpreted private gallery talk focusing on one of MoMA’s special exhibitions.
 * All MoMA theaters are equipped with infrared sound enhancement systems. Headsets and neck loops are available. In addition, The Celeste Bartos Theater (Theater 3) and one of The Edward John Noble Education Center's classrooms are equipped with induction loops that transmit directly to hearing aids with T-Coils. Foreign-language films include English captioning
 * Sign language interpretation and CART (Computer-Assisted Real-Time) captioning are scheduled for selected Conversations with Contemporary Artists. Induction loop or infrared sound-amplification systems are available for all Conversations with Contemporary Artists.
 * Gallery Talks- Museum lecturers, educators, graduate students, and curators lead talks in the collection galleries and special exhibitions. Lectures are free with Museum admission.
 * Other Public Programs- To request sign language interpretation free of charge for any program, please call (212) 408–6347 or (212) 247–1230 (TTY), or e-mail accessprograms@moma.org , with at least two weeks' advance notice.


 * **National Maritime Museum (United Kingdom)**
 * Loop systems have been set up in all the galleries to offer deaf people information on all sections of the museum.
 * British Sign Language interpretation is offered for the planetarium and ice world shows
 * This museum is also interested in getting feedback from the hearing impaired and urge them to write on their website

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 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">**Other Museums**
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Many museums offer some assistance for hearing impaired visitors in order to comply with ADA, however, after much research, they have not been placed on their alloted websites yet. As a result, many visitors of the deaf community will not be able to know what may be available for them unitl actually going to the museum. As the digital age continues, museums must make the effort to place such innovations and services on electronic data-bases, like the internet, so the public can be made aware of them prior to visitation. It ius important to note that most museums do offer sign language interpretation, but do not share this infomration unless one asks for it at the museum itself.


 * Practical Applications for People who have Mobility Impairments**

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 * Many museums strive to be accessible to all visitors. Through design, programming, and public relations in museums, there are many examples of how to serve people with mobility impairments.
 * Among other programming for visitors with disabilities, [|The Metropolitan Museum of Art] offers extensive information designed to support people with mobility impairments, as well as on site wheelchairs and available escorts.
 * Though the historic portion of [|The Tenement Museum] is not wheelchair accessible, the museum provides options for people with mobility impairments such as virtual tours, neighborhood walking tours, an accessible visitor center, virtual video conference interpretation, and educator led programming in the visitor center.
 * The National Geographic Museum ensures that even temporary exhibits are accessible, such as the [|Terra Cotta Warriors] exhibit. This exhibit includes ramp access, wheelchair accessibility, as well as complimentary wheelchairs.