Acknowledgements
The author is extremely grateful for the direction of James Devine of the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow University, for providing a larger context from which to view accessibility within cultural institutions. His encouragement, endless reviews, and introductions have made the completion of this research possible; he was also instrumental in expanding my research to include perspectives from the United Kingdom. Dean Katherine Burton Jones, Research Advisor, Museum Studies program, Harvard Extension School, helped to shape the early concepts and outline of the project, while providing encouragement and clarification throughout the course of the research. Linda Newberry, Assistant Director of the Museum Studies program, ensured that the project started and ended within the Harvard Extension School’s guidelines.
This research would not have been possible without the thoughtful responses of the survey participants. Museum staff and developers transparently revealed the ways in which their organizations currently address multimedia accessibility, while recognizing that there is still a long way to go in fully embracing access for all.
Case study participants provided essential and practical descriptions of how accessibility is handled during the course of a given media project. A special thanks goes out to Bart Marable of Terra Incognita, Brad Johnson of Second Story Interactive Studios, Chad Wollerton of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Irene Chambers and Betsy Nahum-Miller of the Library of Congress, and Rose Cardiff of the Tate Modern for their willingness to share the details of their project from start to finish.
Finally, the author would like to recognize her family for the emotional and financial support that they have provided over the past four years. Her father, William Constantine, has been a generous supporter of her studies and research at Harvard and UCLA, in emotional, practical and financial terms. Thanks are also due to Danielle Rea, who is the most supportive and caring sister one can have; and to Arlene Constantine for believing in her daughter’s academic pursuits.
