Located in New York City, the Met is one of the most accessible cultural landmarks in the country. It takes great pride in making its building, as well as its programs, accessible to people with all types of disabilities.
For instance, all of the museum's public galleries are accessible to wheelchair users and other visitors who need to avoid stairs. The Met offers wheelchairs, and elevators and escalators are located throughout the building.
For the hard of hearing, gallery talks with FM assistive listening devices are scheduled on a regular basis, and a limited number of FM assistive listening devices are available for tours and programs. The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium and the New Uris Center for Education are equipped with infrared sound enhancement systems (with headsets and neck loops). Also, audio guide players have headsets and volume control, and a limited number of neck loops for hearing aids with T-switches are available. Transcripts in standard and large print are available for all audio guide programming.
Deaf museum-goers can also enjoy their experience at the Met. Real-time captioning for lectures can be provided upon request. Requests for this service can be made up to three weeks before the date of the lecture. The Hear at the Met brochure lists programs for visitors who are hard of hearing. Also, many gallery talks are presented in Sign Language or are Sign Language interpreted. These programs are free with museum admission.
The Met has put together some amazing programs for the blind and visually impaired, too. In Touch with Ancient Egypt is a touch tour consisting of six ancient Egyptian sculptures. Visitors who are blind or partially sighted are invited to touch these sculptures of pharaohs, gods, and goddesses. The museum also offers a large-print booklet with descriptions and locations of the sculptures in both English and Braille.
Another program is the Touch Collection, in which a wide range of art is available to touch, supplemented by casts and high-quality reproductions.
For children and adults with learning disabilities there are family programs held on select Sundays that consist of thematic gallery tours and creative art activities. There's even a program for older guests with dementia called Met Escapes, in which individuals living with dementia, together with their family members or care partners, can enjoy discussions, art making, and other interactive and multisensory activities in the galleries and in the classroom, using the Metropolitan's collections spanning five thousand years of world culture.
At the Met, there's something for everyone, including those with disabilities who might need a special accommodation. The Met's attention to details and accessibility puts this museum at the forefront of innovation in cultural tourism.
Suzanne Robitaille - Suzanne Robitaille is a writer and disability advocate. She writes about disability topics on her blog, Profoundly Yours and for several ...
