Abstract
Access and inclusion have become “hot topics” in many fields in the last decade, including museum education. While this interest has shed light on the need to improve access to the museum for a number of marginalized groups, people with disabilities still remain largely left out of the conversation. Many museums and their staff continue to struggle to make art museums accessible for this group. This chapter serves as a practical “how-to” for both prospective and current museum educators. This chapter proposes that museums move beyond inclusion, towards a radical form of accessibility that troubles the “check-list” nature of traditional access, values the voices and experiences of people with disabilities, and utilizes principles of universal design.
TopA Brief History Of Access And Inclusion In Museums
The fight for access and inclusion in public spaces is fairly young compared to other civil rights movements and legislation. While the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provided accessibility provisions, specifically for federal programs or those receiving federal funds, more specific accessibility measures were not required until the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA specifically prohibits discrimination based on disability. It applies broadly to many public life areas, such as employment, governments and programs, public and commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications (U.S. Department of Justice, 2020). Title III of the ADA applies explicitly to businesses and nonprofit service providers, a category that includes most art museums. This section of the legislation requires buildings to be made physically accessible (either in their construction or in later accommodations), requires communication access for people with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities, and “other access requirements” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2020).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Inclusion: The presence of marginalized groups or individuals in a space where they were previously not welcome or otherwise able to be present, underrepresented, or excluded.
Identity-First Language: Language used primarily by people with disabilities/disabled people to convey the importance of disability experience and identity; acknowledges that identity and experience are inextricably tied to disability, and while disability is not a monolith, being disabled is considered a culture with some shared experiences and knowledge.
Radical Accessibility: An amalgamation of Mia Mingus’s “liberatory accessibility” and the Critical Design Lab's “radical standards” for accessibility. This kind of accessibility centers the voices and perspectives of disabled people and non-disabled people. It creates a space where access is no longer considered a burden nor an afterthought. It comes from a space of disability justice and the acknowledgment that disabled people and their experiences are valuable.
Social Model of Disability: A model of disability that acknowledges that society and institution, through acts of ableism, have created and maintained barriers to access and inclusion for disabled people; aims to normalize disability and disability experiences; the problem is not within the person nor is it their disability, but the cultural, social, economic systems that “disable” and create barriers.
Medical Model of Disability: A deficit model of disability, typically linked to the medical field, which views disability as an impairment or problem in need of fixing. In this model, disability is the problem and the root of barriers to access and inclusion.
Disability Studies: An academic discipline that explores the experiences and meanings of disability through social, political, economic, and cultural lenses.
Accessibility: The ability to be present in a space and meaningfully engage in the space as it is intended to be used.
Disability Justice: An ideological framework within the discipline of Disability Studies that examines and seeks to dismantle barriers brought about by ableism and systems of oppression.
Person-First Language: Language used by people with and without disabilities that is meant to convey a positive view of disability by placing the person or individual before their disability; acknowledges that people with disabilities are individuals with different experiences, likes, dislikes, needs, etc.