Special programs and efforts make a variety of local cultural institutions and entertainment venues accessible to more people, including visitors who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, those who are blind or have limited vision, and those who have autism. Among the examples:

The AMC Loews 12 in Webster each month shows a film at lower volume with the house lights up half-way. The events are billed as sensory-friendly films for people with autism, and it’s OK if guests make noise or need to walk around during the movie.

Mendon Ponds Park has a sensory garden geared especially for people with visual or physical disabilities. Sharon’s Sensory Garden, located behind the nature center on Pond Road, has raised flowerbeds and graded paths for people in wheelchairs. Plant listings and labels are in Braille. The plants can be touched and smelled.

George Eastman House has a volunteer docent who gives tours that are both spoken and in American Sign Language, for hearing and deaf guests. Its museum and Dryden Theatre are among multiple venues locally that have hearing-assist devices for people who are hard of hearing.

Rochester Broadway Theatre League and Geva Theatre provide live audio descriptions of certain performances for people with limited or no sight. Patrons can pick up a small receiver and listen through a headset as a trained describer in a booth fills in the gaps between the dialogue by detailing facial expressions, costumes and live action.

Certain RBTL performances have open captioning on an LED screen, which helps people with reduced hearing and people whose first language isn’t English. Geva this fall will add open captioning for some matinee performances and will be updating its listening assistance devices.

Rochester Museum & Science Center was among a group of museums that created universally accessible traveling exhibits, shaped by testing prototypes with different audiences. At an exhibit about how animals move, for example, visitors could spin a knob to control the speed of a video of animals moving. The video included audio narration, but based on feedback from people with low hearing, the RMSC added closed captioning as well. That team experience prompted RMSC to incorporate more elements that can be touched, felt and heard into more of its permanent exhibits.

“Everything we do, we try to make it as multimodal as we can,” says Calvin Uzelmeier, director of education at RMSC. “It actually makes it better for everyone.”

Likewise, The Strong’s National Museum of Play has followed the principles of universal design, “by which the design of as many features as possible is to be as useable to as many people as possible, regardless of age, ability or situation,” says retired exhibit designer Kevin Murphy. That includes things visitors may not even think about, such as the size and style of words on labels, color contrasts, lighting and handrails.

The goal of accessibility carries over into lessons and programs, says Lisa J. Clark, vice president for education at The Strong: “This year, in addition to serving individuals with special needs in K-12 regular school, we facilitated programs for adults and children with developmental disabilities who participate in agency programs; and adults and children with blindness, deafness or limited mobility who attend special schools.”

Source: democratandchronicle.com

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