[accessibleimage] art, food, kniting, photography and King Tut

Hi,
A few articles and links.

Best,
Lisa


links
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/living/13923742.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=16905


http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=inbombay&xfile=February2006_inbombay_standard8986


http://www.local10.com/news/7004729/detail.html

http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/02/13/pf-1439977.html


http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=227122006

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184619,00.html

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ctut11feb11,0,5130580.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/13851424.htm



Posted on Tue, Feb. 21, 2006



MUSEUMS OFFER 'TOUCH TOURS' FOR BLIND

By MATT SEDENSKY
Associated Press

Warren Logan's hands skim the 15th-century marble bust, tracing the lifeless eyes, the slightly agape mouth, the precisely chiseled fur.

He is blind, but he can see.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's new "touch tour" is among programs at more than 100 museums nationwide that attempt to do what once was thought impossible: make art accessible -- even visible -- to those with little or no sight.

''I get a good picture of the art,'' 14-year-old Logan said after a recent tour of the Kansas City, Mo., museum. ''I can actually visualize it.''

The Nelson-Atkins program has participants first feel pieces of slate and marble -- the materials of which the works they'll feel are made. Later, specially trained docents guide the hands of the visually impaired across 500-year-old Spanish tomb covers, an Italian bust of St. John the Baptist and numerous pieces by celebrated Modernist sculptor Henry Moore, asking them questions about their perceptions and offering them history on the piece.

Tina Jinkens dreaded class trips to the museum as a child. But now, the 35-year-old blind woman's face fills with delight as she touches art.

''I always felt like I didn't get that much out of it,'' Jinkens recalled. ''But if someone can put their hands on a sculpture and really get something out of an exhibit it may open up new worlds to them.''

Art museums first began to make their collections accessible to those without sight in the early 1970s, although with major museums such as the Nelson-Atkins only now implementing such programs, the spread across the country has been slow.

The ''Form in Art'' initiative at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was among the first to reach out to the blind. The three-year program combines the study of art history, tactile examinations of objects in the museum's collections and participants' own creation of artwork.

Because original paintings can never be touched, the Philadelphia Museum makes reproductions that may emphasize the heavy brush strokes of van Gogh or another artist's signature elements, dioramalike models that use materials such as glass to represent water or terry cloth for a lamb, and black-and-white interpretations that allow someone with limited vision to more easily see the contrast.

The museum also offers tours for the visually impaired that include more than 50 touchable pieces. Street Thoma, who heads the Philadelphia Museum's accessibility programs, said a blind person's initial visit to the museum can yield a strong reaction.

''When a blind person thinks of an art museum in society they think, 'That's not for me,''' Thoma said. ''The feeling that the person gets is, 'Wow. I can be a part. I'm not cut out of this. I'm not isolated. I'm not alone.'''

Those sentiments are repeated before pieces of art tucked in museums across the country.

In Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts' longtime tour for the blind sometimes makes use of poetry or music. At the Umlauf Sculpture Garden in Austin, Texas, visually impaired visitors can listen to an audio guide that instructs them where to reach, what to feel and the history behind the piece. And at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where touch tours have been available since 1972, those without sight can lay their hands on masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Auguste Rodin.

''Really, what these individuals are doing is what many people want to do when they visit the museum, which many people do when the guards aren't looking,'' said Francesca Rosenberg, who heads MOMA's accessibility programs.

The plight to earn a general acceptance of the idea that blind people can actually benefit from exposure to art and even develop a mental image of pieces is one that has been even more difficult.

When Art Education for the Blind was founded in New York in 1987 to advocate museums making their collections accessible, many questioned the group's mission.

''People would laugh,'' said Nina Levent, associate director of the organization. ''They thought it was a ridiculous idea.''

John Kennedy, a University of Toronto at Scarborough professor whose 1993 book, ''Drawing and the Blind,'' is considered the seminal work on the subject, said those without sight can often understand art as well as those with full vision.

''Sculptures make perfect sense for the blind, but also blind people understand pictures,'' he said. ''The image formed in the blind person's mind is, in most important respects, identical to the image formed in the sighted person's mind.''

Kennedy's statement -- that a blind person might come up with a mental image close to that of a sighted person -- is stunning, and one that he still has difficulty getting some people to accept.

There were no naysayers when a small group of young people crowded the Nelson-Atkins' mezzanine sculpture gallery for a tour. Shirley Cottrell beamed as her 9-year-old granddaughter, Brooke, reached to caress a piece taller than her.

She could feel every little groove, Cottrell said. She could see.


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Dynamic Resource Group Reformats Craft Website For The Blind
InsideIndianaBusiness.com Report

2/20/2006 8:22:33 AM

Berne-based Dynamic Resource Group has reformatted its FreePatterns.com website to be accessible to blind and visually impaired crafters.


Computer technology allows for the translation of information on a computer screen into either speech or Braille. The company made the change after receiving a request from a woman who knits but who is also blind.

Source: Inside INdiana Business

Press Release

BERNE, Ind.—Dynamic Resource Group of Berne has reformatted its free pattern Web site, FreePatterns.com, to be accessible to the visually impaired. The new feature became available on Feb. 6, 2006.

According to the American Federation for the Blind, there are at least 1.5 million visually impaired computer users, including a large number who are blind. Blind and visually impaired persons are able to surf the Web using technology that translates information from their computer screen into either speech or Braille.

DRG, publisher of books, magazines and pattern booklets in a number of special interest areas, recently received an e-mail from an avid knitter, Eileen Scrivani, who also happens to be blind. Scrivani expressed concern that the company’s FreePatterns.com Web site lacked vision-impaired access.

As a result, the company researched vision-impaired accessibility and made the necessary technological changes. Now, all of its free patterns are tagged to enable screen readers to translate them into audio.

“After exchanging e-mails with Eileen, I realized what a difference it could make if we upgraded the patterns to a version that allowed for text tagging,” said Marylee Klinkhammer, Web developer and internet services manager for DRG. “I am very pleased that every pattern on FreePatterns.com is now tagged to enable screen reading. This is a great resource for visually impaired crafters because there are nearly 2,000 craft and needlecraft patterns to download from the site.”

FreePatterns.com is available to the general public at no charge, and includes patterns in knit, crochet, paper crafting, quilting, sewing, tatting, plastic canvas, woodworking and general crafts. Members can download patterns from the Web site at www.freepatterns.com.

DRG is headquartered in Berne and owned entirely by the Muselman family. It is now in its third generation and has two major business divisions; one in magazine and book publishing and consumer catalogs, and the other in subscription and product fulfillment. The company Web site is located at www.drgnetwork.com.

About Dynamic Resource Group (DRG): Dynamic Resource Group is an 80-year-old family business, headquartered in Berne, Ind., and owned entirely by the Muselman family. Now in its third generation as a privately owned company, DRG has two major business divisions; one in magazine and book publishing and consumer catalogs (DRG Publishing), and the other in subscription and product fulfillment (Strategic Fulfillment Group). SFG is located in a 140,000-square-foot fulfillment facility in Big Sandy, Texas, 100 miles east of Dallas. It offers clients a state-of-the-art unified database that facilitates the marketing and fulfillment of magazines, continuities and products, all under one roof.

DRG Publishing encompasses leading brands, including Annie’s Attic, American School of Needlework, House of White Birches, Clotilde and The Needlecraft Shop. DRG publishes 15 magazines in the quilting, crochet, plastic canvas, knitting, nostalgia, woodworking, paper craft and cooking fields. It also publishes hardcover consumer books and instruction books that are sold direct to consumers and through wholesale and trade channels.



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Good deeds done by Rangoonwala, indeed!
BY A STAFF REPORTER | Thursday, February 16, 2006 10:53:52 IST
Rangoonwala foundation’s exhibition had on offer jewellery, puppets, paintings and more
The Rangoonwala Foundation(India), was founded by the late Mohammed Ali Rangoonwala. His wife, Banu Rangoonwala, who handles the working of the foundation after his death said, "Social service was his hobby. For me, it is his legacy." Talking about the activities of the foundation she added, "The foundation works on social issues like livelihood, health, education and housing. We recently started a vocational training centre in Mumbai."
In its attempt to provide encouragement and aid to other NGOs within India, the Rangoonwala Foundation organises an exhibition, 'Pratibimb', annually to provide these NGOs, space to sell their merchandise. Most of these products are handmade by artisans from smaller towns and villages.
This year, the Pratibimb exhibition at Kamalnayan Bajaj Hall, Nariman Point, was inaugurated by Kaushalya, a student of, 'Helen Keller Institute for the Deaf and Deaf-Blind'. Kaushalya, a blind girl, performed a 'snake dance' on the classic Madhubala song 'Mann Dole' for the inauguration. Born blind, Kaushalya has never ever seen a snake but the young girl did a perfect impression of a snake while lip-syncing the song. The audience included some of her fellow students, some deaf, others deaf-blind, who enjoyed the performance while volunteers translated the song to them in sign language.
Kaushalya's institute describes her as a role model for fellow students. The blind girl works part-time at a McDonald's outlet, makes pretty necklaces in her free time and practices dance as a hobby. Kaushalya said, "I am very pleased to get the opportunity to inaugurate this event with my dance. I thank everyone from the Rangoonwala Foundation for presenting me with such honour."
The exhibition had everything from garments, dress material, accessories, costume jewellery, bed linen, puppets, gift articles, stationery, paintings, home utility articles, educational material, snacks, pickles and more. At the event there will also be a computer technology demonstration by the deaf-blind, hand block printing, embroidery, mehendi application and painting.
Among the exhibitors was the Aured Charitable Trust that worked with young hearing-impaired children at a therapy centre, "We normally don't make any merchandise. But one of my students joined the institute very late. She was already seven when she joined so she couldn't fit in with the other students for normal classes. We decided to teach her art and she bloomed." The Aured stall had a collection of artefacts decorated with delicate Warli designs by just one student.

article 4
Local10.com
Related To Story


Tom and Debbie Ryan


Blind Couple Sues Organizers Of King Tut Exhibit

POSTED: 9:04 am EST February 13, 2006

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A blind couple is suing the organizers of the King Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale.

Tom and Debbie Ryan claim the exhibit fails to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The Ryans claim they were unable to locate overhead descriptive signs and found the museum's restrooms, parking and aisles to be inaccessible. Other disabled patrons have also supported their claim.

Organizers have not yet responded to the allegations.

Copyright 2006 by Local10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



article 5


February 13, 2006

Visually impaired kids create self-esteem in clay
By ASHLEY JOANNOU, TORONTO SUN



Alexandra Travnickova, left, helps guide Molly Burke’s hand as the 12-year-old Oakville girl works on her likeness made of clay at Travnickova’s studio. (David Lucas, Sun)
This Valentine's Day Molly Burke already has her gifts planned.

Necklaces with clay hearts and three dots stamped on the back -- the braille letter M.

The 12-year-old Oakville girl, who has retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive disease that is slowly damaging her retina and will likely leave her blind, is the queen of the kiln.

"You really don't need to see to do pottery. It's all about the way it feels," said Alex Travnickova, creator of Blind Kids Art, pottery classes for visually impaired children in the GTA.

Travnickova started the free classes this September in her Toronto studio after going to an art museum in the Czech Republic.

"They didn't just want us to look at the art; they let us touch it. I thought this would be a great thing for kids who couldn't see," she said.

Between drumming, singing and skiing lessons, Molly makes room for a two-hour pottery class every week where she gets one-on-one attention from Travnickova and a group of volunteers.

"She's really busy but she always makes time for pottery," her mom, Niamh Burke, said.

Travnickova's students do more than build bowls, plates and valentines gifts; they also build self-esteem.

"They realize that if they can do this they can do anything," said Travnickova, an artist who pays for the program mostly out of her own pocket.

"Families with disabled children already pay enough for other things," she said.

But running the classes is not cheap.

Blind Kids Art is having its first major fundraiser Feb. 15 at the Arts and Letters Club on Elm St. The night includes private wine tasting and live entertainment.

Molly's mom said her daughter uses her pottery to help her relate to kids at school.

"She is just so proud of what she does," said Niamh.

"We're talking about buying her a pottery wheel of her own."


article 6


A Little-known legend in focus
SANDRA DICK

DARK, moody, mysterious and extremely powerful - some of the world's most famous faces captured by a master craftsman.

But who took these stunning images? Was it David Bailey or perhaps Mario Testino? Or could it possibly have been Albert Watson from Penicuik?

Not the most instantly recognisable of names - not for nothing is he known as the "greatest littlest-known photographer in the world" - yet Watson's skill behind the lens has earned him a multi-million-pound fortune and let him rub shoulders with a who's who of famous faces, fashion icons, musical heroes and cinema legends.

Now he is heading home, bringing with him for the first time a provocative collection of some of his best works. Frozen - a massive exhibition of striking images that will span three floors of the City Art Centre this summer - will feature Watson's private photographic work alongside his better-known commercial images. They include his portrait of a thoughtful David Bowie, Mick Jagger still recognisable underneath leopard face-paint camouflage, and, bizarrely, movie legend Alfred Hitchcock, deadpan, clutching an equally miserable-looking plucked goose.

They are a long way from the young Watson's first snaps of Princes Street and Calton Hill, taken using his father Albert's box camera when he was still a schoolboy at the city's Rudolph Steiner School. And they are all the more astonishing considering he has been blind in one eye since birth.

Not that being visually impaired stopped him becoming one of the highest earning lensmen in the world - now aged 63, it's said that not a day goes by without one of his images featuring on the front cover of a magazine or journal somewhere on the planet. Indeed it has been a remarkable journey for a lad from Penicuik, who now divides his time between his homes in New York and Marrakesh in Morocco.

HIS love of the arts was nurtured at the Rudolph Steiner school, providing a platform for his studies at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee and then at the Royal College of Art in London.

He emigrated to America in the early 1970s to set up studios in Los Angeles and New York which soon became familiar territory for some of the world's best-known faces.

Eventually, father-of-two Watson would notch up an astonishing 250 covers for fashion bible Vogue, and become a regular contributor to leading US magazines including Life, Newsweek and Rolling Stone.

Graeme Murdoch, chief executive of the proposed Scottish National Photographic Centre - which Watson has supported - says: "Looking at prints by some of the great photographers is a humbling experience. So it is with Albert Watson - he's developed an extraordinary way of dealing with light and he cares deeply about the editing and reproduction.

"The images are sculptural and evoke power but he can show sublime sensitivity when photographing the people of his beloved Morocco, for instance."

As for Watson, who has indicated his support for an Edinburgh-based Scottish National Photography Centre by offering to donate some of his works, the exhibition will be a welcome journey to the city he regards as "home".

"There's something here serene and magical I can't find anywhere else," he said during one visit to Edinburgh. "I miss Scotland so much, from a macaroon bar to Irn Bru . . . I miss my mother's cooking."

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Celebrate Valentine's Day ... in the Dark

Monday, February 13, 2006

By Ed Krayewski



NEW YORK — It's Valentine's Day. How about celebrating it in the dark? No, not that kind of celebrating...

Dark dining, which literally consists of eating a meal you can't see, makes its Valentine’s Day debut this Tuesday at downtown New York City's CamaJe Bistro.

“Our special plan is to show diners romantic new ways of communicating and connecting with their lovers using senses most of us are barely aware of," said CamaJe's dark dining director Dana Salisbury.

At the dinner table, no less? In fact, it's the inclusion of senses other than simply taste that sets New York City’s program apart. Dark dining at CamaJe involves wearing a blindfold and listening to a variety of performances — and eating, of course.

Dining in the dark itself is not a new concept. It has been available in Europe for the last decade, where the servers also happen to be blind. One of the most popular European restaurants that does this is the Blind Cow in Zurich, Switzerland.

In America, the phenomenon came to Los Angeles in July 2005 at an event called Opaque, which takes place at venues such as hotels on an almost weekly basis. At Opaque, most of the servers are also blind or visually impaired, and dinner takes place in total darkness. (Opaque won’t be holding an event on Valentine’s Day, because dark dining is limited to Saturday engagements.)

While Salisbury has never dined at Opaque, she did visit some other European restaurants that offer dark dining — and was disappointed.

“They weren’t much fun; the meals were dull and the ambiance nonexistent,” she said. “They simply turned off the lights and one ate in the dark.”

Salisbury says she was not even aware of Europe's dark dining restaurants when she conceived of her idea. It came to her one morning when she was intoxicated by eating an orange with her eyes closed.

“I was nearly sated by a single slice,” she said. “The world seemed bigger and more intimate at the same time.”

A self-described “multi-disciplinary artist,” Salisbury decided that most people are unaware of how sharp their senses can be.

“I wondered how to offer this intensely pleasurable expanded vision to others, and came up with dark dining,” she said. “Because we all love to eat, and it is our first conscious sensory delight.”

Thinking CamaJe Bistro's small, intimate nature would do well for the dark dining experience, Salisbury approached the restaurant's owner and head chef, Abbie Hitchcock. The idea to add auditory and other sensory components to dark dining events appealed to her.

"[It's] a great opportunity to do something different," Hitchcock said. "To offer our regulars as well as new customers a new and exciting experience."

So far New Yorkers have been very receptive to dark dining at CamaJe since its inception in September 2005. All 2005 dates were sold out well in advance, and the Valentine’s Day event was selling quickly, even at $250 a couple.

However, diners are typically apprehensive at first, Salisbury said. They are afraid of looking goofy or of the difficulty of eating without seeing, but they needn’t worry.

“We all know where our mouths are and have held utensils in our hands without thinking for years,” she said.

Indeed, it takes surprisingly little time to get accustomed to eating without the use of sight. At first, I picked up my utensils slowly, making sure I was grabbing the correct utensil at the correct end. I moved carefully for the water and the bread.

It took some nerve to finally try to butter the bread, but soothed by the pleasant aroma of the mystery meal that was presumably in front of me, I was sitting back, relaxed.

According to Salisbury, this is a typical experience for most diners. In addition to the heightened sense of smell, diners experience an array of performance and experimental art ranging from tap dancers to body percussionists to theatrical performances with assistance from the taped sounds of a thunderstorm.

Salisbury herself is having a ball running the project.

"These events are a gas," she said. "They are like throwing a great party without having to shop or wash up afterward."

The diner, however, might have to. Dark dining can be a bit messy, as I learned when I saw the bread crumbs and stains all over my table. My clothes, though, were clean, because I tucked my napkin into my collar. Salisbury was surprised; only a handful of patrons have done that. Most, she said, are probably too embarrassed.

But there will really be a lot of cleaning up to do should this experiment be tried at home — an otherwise great stay-at-home Valentine's Day idea (and a lot less expensive).

Either way, peeking at the food is ill-advised. Salisbury said one couple agreed to take off their blindfolds simultaneously, but a waiter overheard and when they counted down, she was there to gently stop them. “They laughed,” she said.

Salisbury does, however, give one warning.

“If you are genuinely afraid of darkness, it just isn’t fun,” she said. “Some people are traumatized by the dark. These events are not for them.”

article 8




http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ctut11feb11,0,5130580.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines 

Disabled patrons file suit against Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art over Tut




By Vanessa Blum
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 11, 2006



Tom Ryan was born blind, but the 65-year-old Pembroke Pines resident says he appreciates art and culture as much as anyone else.

So when Ryan went to the King Tut exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art in January he was extremely disappointed.

The popular exhibit features more than 130 ancient Egyptian artifacts taken from King Tut's tomb and other gravesites, but Ryan, his wife, and a friend, all three legally blind, could only "see" the 19 that were described in an audio tour narrated by actor Omar Sharif.

Now Ryan, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, is one of five local residents suing the museum and exhibit organizers in federal court. They say the exhibit violates the Americans With Disabilities Act, a 1990 law that requires public buildings to take reasonable measures to accommodate disabled patrons.

"No one is asking for a discount," Ryan said. "We just want to be able to enjoy the same things other people can enjoy."

While making a museum exhibit accessible to the blind may not be as simple as installing a wheelchair ramp, experts in disability law say the same principles apply.

Scott LaBarre, president of the National Association of Blind Lawyers, said museums can accommodate visually impaired visitors and comply with the ADA by providing guided tours, descriptive audio tours, or replicas of some artifacts that blind patrons can touch. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art offers a number of "touch tours" including one featuring six ancient Egyptian sculptures.

"Congress mandated in passing the ADA that individuals with disabilities must have access to all aspects of our society and that includes entertainment," LaBarre said.

Two Broward County residents with physical disabilities requiring the use of motorized scooters are also part of the suit. They say they were unable to maneuver through the exhibit due to barriers.

Joshua Entin, the Miami lawyer who filed the lawsuit Feb. 6, said the two women were also forced to wait 45 minutes to use the elevator and had to leave the museum altogether to use the restroom of a nearby restaurant. He would not elaborate on the specific problems they encountered. The suit seeks a judicial order requiring the museum to comply with the ADA and reimbursement for all legal fees and expenses.

Museum spokesman Michael Mills said he had not seen the suit, but that thousands of patrons, including many who were disabled, have enjoyed the exhibit. According to Mills, the museum provides wheelchairs to patrons who request them and stations docents throughout the exhibit to assist visitors.

"We take ADA compliance seriously and have taken many steps to make the exhibit accessible," Mills wrote in an e-mailed statement. "Until having received this filing we had not received another access complaint."Mark Lach, vice president of exhibit organizer Arts and Exhibitions International, said that he and his team always keep the needs of disabled visitors in mind and try to be responsive to suggestions. When the exhibit moved from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, Lach said changes were made specifically to accommodate the greater number of seniors expected to attend. But Lach also said no measures are in place specifically to assist blind patrons.

Touchable replicas of artifacts "would be something to consider," Lach said. "I'm always looking for opportunities to make the experience better for everyone."


article


*MUSEUM OF ART / FORT LAUDERDALE*
Disabled sue over access to Tut show
*Advocates for the blind and disabled sued the Museum of Art / Fort Lauderdale, saying its King Tut exhibit violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.*
****

Led by guide dogs Micah and Spring, Tom and Deborah Ryan fumbled their way through the King Tut exhibit at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale last month.

After more than two hours, the Pembroke Pines couple and a friend -- all legally blind -- left the museum unsatisfied with their day of cultural immersion.

An audio tour, designed for those with disabilities, covers only about 20 of the 130 artifacts, said Tom Ryan. The museum didn't provide a guide to help people who are blind navigate the exhibit, he said.

Ryan and other members of All Disabled Americans, an Indiana-based nonprofit group, sued the Museum of Art earlier this month. The suit says the exhibit does not provide adequate access for disabled persons and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Established in 1990, the act mandates equal opportunity in employment and access to public facilities, transportation and state and local services.

''I hate to use the word cheated, but it wasn't what it could have been,'' said Ryan, 65, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.

National Geographic Society and Arts and Exhibitions International of Aurora, Ohio, -- organizers of /Tutankhamen /and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs -- are named in the suit.

The Miami Herald is a co-sponsor of the traveling exhibit, which opened in Fort Lauderdale in December and runs through April 23.

Two others, Lorri Volkman of Pembroke Pines and Lorraine Lanes of Dania Beach, are plaintiffs. Volkman uses a motorized wheelchair and Lanes a motorized scooter.

The women waited 45 minutes for a museum staffer to escort them into an elevator, according to Joshua Entin, a Miami attorney who filed the suit on Feb. 6 in federal court.

They found the bathrooms inaccessible and had to use the restroom at a nearby restaurant, Entin said.

The suit calls for a court order to require the Museum of Art to make the bathrooms comply with ADA accessibility rules and for the audio tour to be more comprehensive. It also wants the museum to incorporate a tour guide to help those who are blind through the exhibit.

More than 200,000 people, including many in wheelchairs, have gone through the Tut exhibit and haven't had a problem, museum executive director Irvin Lippman said on Saturday. Docents are also available upon request to help the impaired, he said.

People with disabilities can call ahead and will be accommodated, Lippman added.

The museum complied with ADA regulations when it was built in 1986. Recently museum and ADA officials discussed upgrades, scheduled for this summer, that will include automatic front doors and another bathroom stall that complies with ADA requirements, Lippman said.

Fred Shotz, a former ADA consultant for Pro Player Stadium, said the signs above the Tut exhibits were hard to decipher because of the height and size of the letters.

The law says that goods and services in places for the public must be accessible to all, said Shotz.

''If we talking about a table at a restaurant, a wheelchair-accessible seat at a Dolphins game or an exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, they must all be accessible,'' Shotz said.

Martha Kirschner, who accompanied Tom Ryan and his wife, Deborah, 53, to the exhibit, is also legally blind. She was able to help the Ryans through, although a guide would have made the experience more fulfilling, Tom Ryan said.

Ryan said having replicas of the artifacts for blind people to touch would have enhanced his experience.

Lippman said the museum does have replicas that are available on request.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a touch tour, Shotz said.

The suit also asks for such a tour to be part of the Tut exhibit.

''Many blind people have no idea of what an object really is until they get their hands on it,'' Ryan said.





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