NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Beth Ziebarth, director of Access Smithsonian, about how the museums are adjusting their approach to accessibility as museums begin to reopen amid the pandemic.
Today marks 30 years since President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act into law. Now, no one conversation or story can do justice to that landmark legislation, so on this anniversary, we decided to focus on one small slice of the story - preserving access to cultural spaces for people living with disabilities.
But then when I think about hitting my 30s, when I really discovered my disability identity, and right around the time of the passage of the ADA, that I could really reflect on what it was like before and what it started to be like after, both in, you know, my personal life and in my professional life. So I think that it was definitely groundbreaking. And I see it as something that is so important for us to understand the history of disability rights as part of the civil rights movement.
MARTIN: Wow. So let's shift to the pandemic now. What have you been thinking about during this whole period here? I mean, as you know, buildings have closed, so most people haven't had access to the institutions as we are accustomed to experiencing them. What have you been thinking about and worrying about during this period?
MARTIN: I'm sure you've been thinking about this, that - you know, we've certainly been talking about this - that people living with disabilities are also some of the people who are most vulnerable in this pandemic from a health perspective, depending on what the disability is.
ZIEBARTH: Yeah, that's a really good question. So the pandemic has presented challenges but also opportunities. You know, as museums and other institutions grapple with how to best reach their audiences while their buildings remain closed, virtual programs have been the way that many organizations have been able to stay in contact with their audiences. And virtual programs can provide fewer barriers to people with disabilities.
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