Background
The term “mobility impaired” refers to a wide spectrum of people—from someone missing a hand to a quadriplegic. Before we can discuss how museums can serve these audiences, we must first gain a basic understanding of some of the conditions resulting in impaired mobility. The following list is far from comprehensive.
Arthritis
An estimated 50 million Americans have arthritis; most of these are older adults, and as the population ages these numbers will only rise. The word “arthritis” means inflammation of the joints, and the condition can lessen a person’s ability to climb stairs, reach for objects and walk long distances. It can also inhibit their fine motor skills. These effects can be short-term or permanent.
Stroke
A stroke results from a blood clot or hemorrhage in the brain and can cause serious damage. One side of the body is affected and may become weak, paralyzed and/or hard to control. There are often cognitive affects from a stroke as well. Rehabilitation is possible, but it is a lengthy process with no guarantee of complete success.
Missing Extremity
A person may lack an extremity at birth or may lose it because of an accident or disease. Many people with missing extremities have prosthesis or learn how to use the remaining portion of their limbs.
Multiple Sclerosis
MS is a disease of the central nervous system that affects approximately 400,000 Americans. According to the National MS Society, “MS can cause blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, paralysis, blindness and more.” The problems can be constant or intermittent. The disease is unpredictable and no two cases are exactly alike. However, certain environmental conditions, such as heat, are known to inflame the disease.
Muscular Dystrophy
This term refers to a group of over 30 degenerative muscular diseases. These conditions cause loss of sensation or muscle control that often progress to the point where the person must use a wheelchair. The person’s mental facilities, however, remain intact.
Spinal Cord Injury
This condition currently affects more than 200,000 Americans with 10,000 more sustained every year due to car, work and sports accidents. The higher the point of injury along the spinal column, the more of the body it affects. People with spinal cord injuries may lose all or part of their sensation and muscle control. Muscle spasms and lack of control over bodily functions are also common.
Although some of the aforementioned conditions can result in cognitive disabilities as well, this post will focus on the needs of visitors who are solely mobility impaired.
Considerations
People with mobility impairments are the most visibly recognizable due to the assistive devices they often use (walkers, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, artificial limbs). Therefore, it might be the easiest to consider these people “different”. But, in some ways, people with mobility impairments might be one of the easiest segments of the disabled population for museums to serve. If no intellectual disability accompanies the mobility impairment (though this is sometimes the case), then the exhibit or program content is accessible to the visitor. Museums need only to make the spaces and objects accessible to patrons who may not be able to move without an assistive device or to grasp, turn or lift things such as interactive components and door handles. People with mobility impairments often have family members or friends accompanying them, but it is important to address the disabled visitor directly about their needs instead of asking their companion.
When making an exhibition or building fully accessible to people with mobility impairments, keep in mind that visitors using any assistive device need to be able to navigate the museum easily and experience it fully. Alternatives to stairs and amenities such as companion care restrooms should be clearly marked on signs and maps. All employees should be able to direct a visitor to accessible pathways, entrances or exits and facilities. Stairs should be smooth but not slippery and without a lip. Elevators should be easily accessible with minimal gaps in the threshold. Curbs should have cut areas to allow visitors using an assistive device to easily access the building. Avoid slippery or uneven surfaces and steep grades. Any area with a ramp should also include stairs, which are easier to navigate for people using crutches or a cane.
According to the Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Design, all doorways should be at least 32 inches (preferably 36 inches) wide to allow a visitor in a wheelchair to enter. Any two-way hallways should be 60 or more inches wide to allow two wheelchairs to pass one another. A space of 30 X 48 inches is required anywhere a wheelchair would want to stop in front of a display, and visitors in wheelchairs require an open space of 60 inches in diameter or a 36 inch T-shaped area to turn around.
Object placement is a concern that greatly affects the experience of visitors with mobility impairments. Items, labels, rails and cases cannot be too high above the ground or a visitor in a wheelchair (or a small child, for that matter) would not be able to see these things comfortably. There is an easy medium height that allows all visitors to experience the objects. Some examples of measurements include:
- Small items should be placed no higher than 40 inches off the ground
- The top of cases and railings should be no higher than 36 inches
- Wall labels should be mounted between 48 and 67 inches (ideally 54 inches) above the floor.
- When mounting items on the floor, make them easily visible so that visitors do not trip.
The placement of interactive components is another issue. When a space is designed to allow a foreword approach in a wheelchair, place interactives or controls 48 to 15 inches (ideally 48) above the ground. When a parallel approach is necessary, any buttons should be between 54 and 9 inches from the floor. Both of these sets of measurements are affected if there is a table or other barrier between the visitor and the interactive. Ideally, there would be enough room for a wheelchair to pull up under the table. Another aspect to consider is the size and composition of the interactives themselves. Taking a variety of mobility impairments into account, interactives should be wider than 3 inches, not slippery, easily operated using only one hand, and require no tight twisting, grasping or pinching and no force over 5 lbs.
Seating is key for visitors with mobility impairments. Half of the seating should be accessible, meaning 17 to 19 inches above the ground with seatbacks at least 18 inches above the seat, plus armrests and back support so that people can lower themselves down and push themselves back up. Spaces for wheelchairs should be spread out so that parties can sit together.
In terms of facilities, there should be wheelchair accessible bathrooms with rails on either side of the toilet. Emergency exits should be fully accessible. Visitors with disabilities, including those with limited fine motor skills or without an extremity, should be able to open doors. One solution is to leave enough space to fit an arm between the door handle and the door itself. All entrances should have thresholds easily crossed in a wheelchair or with the aid of any other assistive device.
For a full list of measurements, we suggest that you refer to the Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Design (see Sources)
Case Study
Museums rarely publish the exact measurements that would allow us to judge which buildings and exhibitions “best” cater to people with mobility impairments. Therefore, this post will address the House Calls program at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the Art for All program at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens.
SAAM’s House Calls program brings the collection to people unable to attend the museum. For adults in the DC area, docents travel to a group to hold one or multiple sessions. The docents present images using PowerPoint and prompt the audience to think back on the American past using themes of the participants’ choosing. For adults with mobility impairments, SAAM volunteers will lead telephone conversations for up to four people. Those reserving a program can choose between multiple themes, and can have up to four sessions. SAAM mails the participants images to be returned after the program is finished.
But what about programs in museums? The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida has a program called Art for All, designed especially for visitors with mobility impairments. Tours for visitors with physical disabilities involve tactile components to encourage engagement and can include a studio segment. In the studio, participants can use adaptive art-making tools. “Art Rollers” can be manipulated using gross, not fine, motor skills, and attach to wheelchairs to create art on the floor.
Where do we go from here? What more can we do?
Mobility impairments are one of the first disabilities a museum addresses, due in part to legal requirements. But are museums doing enough? There are still countless museums without adequate alternatives to stairs, and few have programs designed especially for visitors with limited mobility. How do you think the museums community can better serve visitors with mobility impairments? Is the answer in distance learning or programs in the museums themselves?
Sources
Centers for Disease Control
US Dept. of Education Handbook (PDF)
National MS Society
Parylized Veterans of America
Smithsonian Accessibility Guidelines (PDF)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Cummer Art Museum and Gardens
The term “mobility impaired” refers to a wide spectrum of people—from someone missing a hand to a quadriplegic. Before we can discuss how museums can serve these audiences, we must first gain a basic understanding of some of the conditions resulting in impaired mobility. The following list is far from comprehensive.
Arthritis
An estimated 50 million Americans have arthritis; most of these are older adults, and as the population ages these numbers will only rise. The word “arthritis” means inflammation of the joints, and the condition can lessen a person’s ability to climb stairs, reach for objects and walk long distances. It can also inhibit their fine motor skills. These effects can be short-term or permanent.
Stroke
A stroke results from a blood clot or hemorrhage in the brain and can cause serious damage. One side of the body is affected and may become weak, paralyzed and/or hard to control. There are often cognitive affects from a stroke as well. Rehabilitation is possible, but it is a lengthy process with no guarantee of complete success.
Missing Extremity
A person may lack an extremity at birth or may lose it because of an accident or disease. Many people with missing extremities have prosthesis or learn how to use the remaining portion of their limbs.
Multiple Sclerosis
MS is a disease of the central nervous system that affects approximately 400,000 Americans. According to the National MS Society, “MS can cause blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, paralysis, blindness and more.” The problems can be constant or intermittent. The disease is unpredictable and no two cases are exactly alike. However, certain environmental conditions, such as heat, are known to inflame the disease.
Muscular Dystrophy
This term refers to a group of over 30 degenerative muscular diseases. These conditions cause loss of sensation or muscle control that often progress to the point where the person must use a wheelchair. The person’s mental facilities, however, remain intact.
Spinal Cord Injury
This condition currently affects more than 200,000 Americans with 10,000 more sustained every year due to car, work and sports accidents. The higher the point of injury along the spinal column, the more of the body it affects. People with spinal cord injuries may lose all or part of their sensation and muscle control. Muscle spasms and lack of control over bodily functions are also common.
Although some of the aforementioned conditions can result in cognitive disabilities as well, this post will focus on the needs of visitors who are solely mobility impaired.
Considerations
People with mobility impairments are the most visibly recognizable due to the assistive devices they often use (walkers, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, artificial limbs). Therefore, it might be the easiest to consider these people “different”. But, in some ways, people with mobility impairments might be one of the easiest segments of the disabled population for museums to serve. If no intellectual disability accompanies the mobility impairment (though this is sometimes the case), then the exhibit or program content is accessible to the visitor. Museums need only to make the spaces and objects accessible to patrons who may not be able to move without an assistive device or to grasp, turn or lift things such as interactive components and door handles. People with mobility impairments often have family members or friends accompanying them, but it is important to address the disabled visitor directly about their needs instead of asking their companion.
When making an exhibition or building fully accessible to people with mobility impairments, keep in mind that visitors using any assistive device need to be able to navigate the museum easily and experience it fully. Alternatives to stairs and amenities such as companion care restrooms should be clearly marked on signs and maps. All employees should be able to direct a visitor to accessible pathways, entrances or exits and facilities. Stairs should be smooth but not slippery and without a lip. Elevators should be easily accessible with minimal gaps in the threshold. Curbs should have cut areas to allow visitors using an assistive device to easily access the building. Avoid slippery or uneven surfaces and steep grades. Any area with a ramp should also include stairs, which are easier to navigate for people using crutches or a cane.
According to the Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Design, all doorways should be at least 32 inches (preferably 36 inches) wide to allow a visitor in a wheelchair to enter. Any two-way hallways should be 60 or more inches wide to allow two wheelchairs to pass one another. A space of 30 X 48 inches is required anywhere a wheelchair would want to stop in front of a display, and visitors in wheelchairs require an open space of 60 inches in diameter or a 36 inch T-shaped area to turn around.
Object placement is a concern that greatly affects the experience of visitors with mobility impairments. Items, labels, rails and cases cannot be too high above the ground or a visitor in a wheelchair (or a small child, for that matter) would not be able to see these things comfortably. There is an easy medium height that allows all visitors to experience the objects. Some examples of measurements include:
- Small items should be placed no higher than 40 inches off the ground
- The top of cases and railings should be no higher than 36 inches
- Wall labels should be mounted between 48 and 67 inches (ideally 54 inches) above the floor.
- When mounting items on the floor, make them easily visible so that visitors do not trip.
The placement of interactive components is another issue. When a space is designed to allow a foreword approach in a wheelchair, place interactives or controls 48 to 15 inches (ideally 48) above the ground. When a parallel approach is necessary, any buttons should be between 54 and 9 inches from the floor. Both of these sets of measurements are affected if there is a table or other barrier between the visitor and the interactive. Ideally, there would be enough room for a wheelchair to pull up under the table. Another aspect to consider is the size and composition of the interactives themselves. Taking a variety of mobility impairments into account, interactives should be wider than 3 inches, not slippery, easily operated using only one hand, and require no tight twisting, grasping or pinching and no force over 5 lbs.
Seating is key for visitors with mobility impairments. Half of the seating should be accessible, meaning 17 to 19 inches above the ground with seatbacks at least 18 inches above the seat, plus armrests and back support so that people can lower themselves down and push themselves back up. Spaces for wheelchairs should be spread out so that parties can sit together.
In terms of facilities, there should be wheelchair accessible bathrooms with rails on either side of the toilet. Emergency exits should be fully accessible. Visitors with disabilities, including those with limited fine motor skills or without an extremity, should be able to open doors. One solution is to leave enough space to fit an arm between the door handle and the door itself. All entrances should have thresholds easily crossed in a wheelchair or with the aid of any other assistive device.
For a full list of measurements, we suggest that you refer to the Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Design (see Sources)
Case Study
Museums rarely publish the exact measurements that would allow us to judge which buildings and exhibitions “best” cater to people with mobility impairments. Therefore, this post will address the House Calls program at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the Art for All program at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens.
SAAM’s House Calls program brings the collection to people unable to attend the museum. For adults in the DC area, docents travel to a group to hold one or multiple sessions. The docents present images using PowerPoint and prompt the audience to think back on the American past using themes of the participants’ choosing. For adults with mobility impairments, SAAM volunteers will lead telephone conversations for up to four people. Those reserving a program can choose between multiple themes, and can have up to four sessions. SAAM mails the participants images to be returned after the program is finished.
But what about programs in museums? The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida has a program called Art for All, designed especially for visitors with mobility impairments. Tours for visitors with physical disabilities involve tactile components to encourage engagement and can include a studio segment. In the studio, participants can use adaptive art-making tools. “Art Rollers” can be manipulated using gross, not fine, motor skills, and attach to wheelchairs to create art on the floor.
Where do we go from here? What more can we do?
Mobility impairments are one of the first disabilities a museum addresses, due in part to legal requirements. But are museums doing enough? There are still countless museums without adequate alternatives to stairs, and few have programs designed especially for visitors with limited mobility. How do you think the museums community can better serve visitors with mobility impairments? Is the answer in distance learning or programs in the museums themselves?
Sources
Centers for Disease Control
US Dept. of Education Handbook (PDF)
National MS Society
Parylized Veterans of America
Smithsonian Accessibility Guidelines (PDF)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Cummer Art Museum and Gardens
This is not exactly about this specific post, but I am so so impressed with this blog! The layout is awesome and the sidebar area is so cool! I love that you link to related blogs and resources and how did you make that wordle with the topics?!
ReplyDeleteYour research has clearly been extensive and you make it really easy for museum professionals to gather information and seek out resources. Job well done!
I enjoyed reading your blog, and was particularly drawn to this post because my grandmother (now deceased) was bound to a wheelchair in the last years of her life and she came to visit me (with my mother) several times during those years.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how frustrating it was to take her to the NMNH and not be able to maneuver well. Granted, the NMNH is an older building, but the exhibits we tried to get her through had major flow issues, so we were fighting with all of the other (far more mobile) people to get through and actually see the objects on display. The upper floors of the Rotunda in the museum are the WORST when it comes to this - the hallway is narrow and there are benches all around, which means that people tend to congregate in an already congestion-prone area. It is thus incredibly difficult to move when you're with someone who is mobility impaired.
What is nice, however, is that the newer halls at the NMNH are somewhat better - the Hall of Human Origins and the Ocean Hall (overall) allow for better flow (or, in the case of the Ocean Hall, multiple paths one can take to get through the exhibit). This means that getting through the exhibit is not the horrific experience it is on the upper floors.
My experiences with my grandmother made me so much more aware of how difficult and frustrating it can be to visit museums if you're not able to move about "normally." I know it always made my grandmother upset because she felt like she was a burden. People that struggle with mobility should feel just as welcome in museums as all other visitors, so I hope that museums continue to strive for better standards in accessibility.
- Courtney Prutzman
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Courtney. I am sorry to hear that your grandmother had a hard time. I am hoping along with you that museums don't settle for barely (or not, in some cases) meeting the legal requirements for mobility access. We can always do more!
ReplyDeleteLiz, Shauna gets the credit for being technologically savvy. I've requested that she take me as an apprentice.