Good afternoon, everyone!

I’m going to divide my presentation into four parts. I’ll give you some background information about the situation of accessibility in the world and in Russia. Then I’ll tell you about categories of disabled people and their needs in the museum. After that I’m going to speak about what can museums do for disabled people. I’ll finish with 2 good examples of American museum policy.

The first-ever World report on disability reveals that of the more than one billion people in the world who are disabled, 110-190 million encounter significant difficulties in their daily lives. These people are confronted with barriers at every turn. Governments should provide people with disabilities access to all mainstream services, invest in specific programmes for those people with disabilities who are in need, and adopt a national disability strategy. slide

In Russia, unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of political development, the question of accessibility and integration of disabled people into society, were engaged only in the beginning of XXI century, when in Europe and America – in the last decades of XX century. However, it is undeniable that some progress has been made. Аccording to the information from the official website of the Health Ministry there are about 13 million people with disabilities living in Russia. Among them are: disabled retirement age - 65% ; working age - 30.5% ; children with disabilities - 4.5% (slide). In recent years, the government has been active in the field of disability. In 2010, the Health Ministry of Russia, individual ministries with the participation of public organizations of disabled people developed a national program "Accessible Environment." The program will last until 2015 and plans to build by 2016 for all people in Russia the conditions for access to the most important for the disabled facilities and services in health care, culture, transportation, information and communications, education, social welfare, sport and physical education.

Under the trends of recent years, many organizations in our country are trying to become more accessible to people with disabilities. These organizations include museums. A great number of professional museum events (conferences, seminars, round tables, workshops) devoted to this problem. But, as mentioned earlier, the problem of accessibility in Russia has become relevant not so long ago, so seems logical that the achievements in the field of museum accessibility in foreign countries could be useful for Russian museums.

Many museums in America have achieved good results in the field of accessibility. That’s why in this paper I’m going to share the American experience in order to help the Russian professionals to solve the problem.

I’ll start with some background information –types of disabled people and their needs in the museums. (slide)

Types of disabled people:

1. Mobility and Physical Impairments

Any impairment which limits the physical function of limbs, fine bones, or gross motor ability is a physical disability

2. Vision Disability

There are hundreds of thousands of people that suffer from minor to various serious vision disability or impairments. These injuries can also result into some serious problems or diseases like blindness and ocular trauma, to name a few.

3. e Hearing Disability

Hearing disabilities includes people that are completely or partially deaf, (Deaf is the politically correct term for a person with hearing impairment). People who are partially deaf can often use hearing aids to assist their hearing. Deaf people use sign language as a means of communication.

4. Developmental disability

Developmental disability is any disability that results in problems with growth and development. 

And what are the needs of these categories? slide

1. Mobility in the building

2. Mobility around the building

3. Adopted expositions

4. Special programs

5. Trained staff

It is important to understand that each of the categories has its special requirements. What can museums offer people with disabilities? According to the book of Alice Cooper– Grinhill ‘The educational role of the museum’ we can highlight several ways to adopt the museum for their needs.

For all categories:

• Access brochure

• Staff assistance

Services for visual impairment people

• Taped guides

• Pre-visited information

• Toch tours

• Handing sessions

• Tactile plans

• Workshops

• Braile information

• Large print text panels

• Good lightning

• Clear signs

Services for deaf and hear-impaired people:

• Sign language interpreted tours

• Print transcript of taped tours and information

• Trained staff

Services for people with mobility difficulties:

• Ramps of a regulation slopes near all steps

• Public lifts

• Accessible lavatories

• Doorways wide enough for wheelchairs

• Wheelchairs for use in the museums

• Stools for use on guided tours

• Adequate seating in all galleries and public areas offering back-rests

• Maps showing seating

• Ramped roots marked on a map

• Sessions where objects are brought to a one place

Services for people with learning difficulties:

• Clear labels and signs

• Large print

• Specially tailored taped tours

• Accessible architecture

• Expositions

And of course, It is necessary to develop programs for each of the categories. It is advisable to include representatives of people with disabilities into the process of program developing. Museum staff may consider the possibility of ‘taking the museum’ to the centres where disabled people meet, work and live. It may be more economical in financial terms to move one person to a centre than to move a whole group to the museum: but this need only be a starting-point. The provision of ramps, additional lavatories, the improvement of lighting and the clear marking of staircases are all items of minor expenditure. The real pressure will be upon human re- sources: staff must be better prepared and trained, they will need to be more considerate, and be prepared to give up their time to provide special handling sessions and creative activities.

The process of adaptation traditional museums for disabled people is really expensive, but in America it is not a problem because all the projects are supported by different foundations, organizations and companies.

About special organizations which can help (slide)

Metropolitan museum

The Museum is committed to making its collections, buildings, programs, and services accessible to all audiences. We offer programs for visitors with disabilities on a regular basis.