Abstract
In the 1990’s, anti-discrimination legislation in the United States and abroad mandated that museums and cultural institutions adapt their exhibitions and facilities to provide access to persons of all abilities. Today, the access challenges facing museums are digital; technology has the ability to provide unprecedented access to information for disabled persons, yet this promise has largely remained untapped by cultural institutions.
This research explores the bridging of technological resources with user-centered design for the purpose of making online cultural learning more accessible and usable by diverse audiences. Two surveys were designed to reveal the perceived and real barriers inherent in accessible multimedia design within the museum community. Technical museum staff and external multimedia developers were surveyed to determine the extent of institutional policies for multimedia accessibility, familiarity with access standards and legislation, and how responsibility for accessibility is negotiated between the museum and developers. Three case studies provide specific examples of how these barriers to accessibility are being addressed by museums and the developers who create their multimedia applications.
The survey results indicate that museums and cultural institutions in the United Kingdom are adopting web accessibility standards to a greater extent than organizations in the United States. Museums cite the barriers to creating accessible content as lack of time, money and knowledgeable resources, in that order. Clearly, this research shows education within the museum and development communities is needed to improve the accessibility of their digital content by increasingly diverse audiences.
