The last avant garde?

Improving accessibility to cultural heritage for people with intellectual disabilities

“…;Aquario et al, 2017). As recently highlighted by several authors (Hayhoe, 2018;Austin et al, 2018;Sandell et al, 2010), the growing interactions between museum institutions and scholars interested in disability issues are generating new reflections on how to promote accessibility. The resulting interdisciplinary and international reflections not only stimulate new insights into this innovative field, but also inform ethically and experimentally based practices within museums, galleries and archaeological sites.…”

“…The first concerns the topic of designing accessible environments. There is increasing attention from international literature on the field (Hayhoe, 2018;Austin et al, 2018;Sandell et al, 2010). The authors of the recent book The Routledge Handbook of Disability Arts, Culture, and Media (Hadley & McDonald, 2018), presenting the results of various theoretical and practical reflections, have emphasized: "the benefits on understanding of this field -and the practical, philosophical, and at times provocative diversity of approaches, aesthetics, and politics discussed in this collection -can bring, not just for scholars of arts, culture, and media but for scholars across education, social services, science, health, and medicine, as they think about the way the rights of disabled people are reflected or not reflected in their own systems, institutions, and discourses" (page 1).…”

“…Both formal and informal learning environments, such as cultural heritage sites, museums and galleries, have a special role to play in sparking participation in cultural life, as well as in promoting social cohesion and inclusion (Rappolt-Schlichtmann & Daley, 2013;Black, 2005). Curators express an increasing interest in adopting strategies able to improve accessibility considering its pedagogical, cultural and social dimensions (Hayhoe, 2018;Austin et al, 2018;Sandell, Dodd, & Garland-Thomson, 2010).…”