You can find the Access Board's guidelines at www.access-board.gov.  I
imagine the guidelines for ATMs are probably the most similar to the
computer interfaces in museums and would be quite helpful.

Also, for people with limited mobility, be sure that the touch areas on the
computer screen are large so that people have no difficulty selecting them.

The recent exhibition on the Disability Rights Movement at the Smithsonian's
Museum of American History has a touchscreen kiosk.  I was in on some of the
early planning stages for this kiosk, and the designers put a lot of thought
into how to make it accessible to people with various disabilities.  You may
find it helpful to speak with Katherine Ott, a curator who worked on the
exhibition.  I can send you her contact information off-list if you'd like.


Sandra Saluke
Education Projects Assistant
Association of Science-Technology Centers, Inc.
1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-3516
(202) 783-7200 ext. 128
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>



-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Walter Reinhardt
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2001 9:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: computer in exhibit- ADA compliant?


Simply, you need to position the screen (if you go with touch access) so
that seated and standing visitors can easily see and touch the screen. This
is not a hard as it seems. You need to research comfortable viewing angles
and easy reach data and find the common ground. It can be done.

I would note that a more subtle issue maybe the interface design. The access
board has recently issued some guidelines for computer interfaces vis-a-vis
ADA compliance. I believe that they are in the comment phase. These
guidelines would represent the "best practice" standard at this time and
anyone bringing suit against you would be looking to these as the standard
that they expect you to meet. These guidelines also cover web site design.

Walter Reinhardt

Date:    Tue, 20 Mar 2001 19:23:40 -0700
From:    Cheryl Maslin <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: computer in exhibit- ADA compliant?

what have other museums done for those folks who have limited physical
mobility in cases such as this?


-Cheryl Maslin

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