CoP: Accessibility

The Accessibility Community of Practice is dedicated to surfacing strategies and tactics for implementing best practices for accessibility and, to some extent, the work of universal and inclusive design. Topics addressed by this Community include policy, technology, practice, community, education, evaluation, and innovation.

Museweb 2021

Do you have questions for accessibility related sessions during Museweb 2021? Please submit your questions in advance using this handy form!

They will be addressed during this session to be held Tuesday April 6th 11:00 CT (12:00 ET), 2021.

Accessibility Resources and Links

Topics and Questions

Topics being addressed by the Accessibility Community of Practice include:

  • Policy: Working with organizational leadership to integrate and sustain accessibility best practices within policy level discussions and decisions; sharing stories and experiences about implementing accessibility policy from institutions of different sizes and means.
  • Technology: Including both assistive and mainstream technologies in the design of museum experiences and services; accessibility implications for BYOD (bring your own device) designs and the use of built-in assistive technology features (e.g. voiceover in iOS).
  • Practice: Getting started and growing accessibility practice virally, e.g. from scheduled lunches with like-minded colleagues to accessibility committees and initiatives that are recognized in the governance and operating budgets of the organization.
  • Community: “Nothing about us without us” – best practices for engaging audiences of people with disabilities, e.g. through an accessibility advisory committee made up of people with disabilities from the local community that supports exhibition design and development processes to ensure their accessibility.
  • Education: Often ignorance, not malice, is the reason for an institution’s lack of accessibility. What resources can be gathered to raise awareness, help people get started, and motivate internal work on accessibility?
  • Evaluation: Including accessible design principles in core museum functions and best practices, e.g. label creation, and evaluating museum efforts and output based on their accessibility.
  • Innovation: Sometimes accessibility can be hard and scary, especially if you haven’t yet gotten started. How can sand box environments be set up or other safe spaces be identified to de-risk new initiatives and allay the fear of failure?

Conference Notes, Questions, and Presentations