URN_NBN_SI_DOC-FSRZE99H

Iz muzejskega dela 357 Summary Accessibility of the museum educational environment for the blind and visually impaired Tatjana Vokić Museums as cultural and educational institutions must ensure equal access for all. The limitations of visual perception and the special way of life led by blind and visually impaired visitors require certain adaptations in museums. The experience of the world around them is for the blind and visually impaired closely linked to senses other than sight. This fact must be taken into account not only with respect to those with impaired vision but also with regard to other visitors who find it easier and more efficient to receive information via other sensory channels. An analysis carried out by the Ministry of Culture on the accessibility of museums to children and the disabled showed that the facilities are worst adapted for the disabled who also have an impairment of one or more of their senses, and the main reason for this is the lack of financial resources. Special audio-visual equipment thus remains out of reach for most Slovenian muse- ums. Moreover, professional interest in the accessibility of museums for the blind and visually impaired is in Slovenia still not as developed as in other countries, while the exhibitions organ- ised thus far by Slovenian museums that have been adapted for the blind and visually impaired, focused primarily on the visitors being able to feel the objects, that is on tactile perception. Mu- seum educational activities that are accessible to the blind and visually impaired are important both for their integration into the community and for the general advance in well being of soci- ety as a whole.