[accessibleimage] tut tour feild museum chicago experience

Greetings all,

Here, below my name, is a report from a blind museum patron who recently
visited the Tut Tour in Chicago Field Museum. Below his report are two
articles related to the same exhibit that were on this list some months ago.
I would be interested in thoughts that people have about this man's
experiences, the Tut exhibition, etc. including any settlement reached in
Florida...

Best,

Sylvie

September 2006

Re: Tut Tour in Chicago Field Museum

Last weekend I went to Chicago to visit my daughter. I stayed at a hotel
that had a model of the Tut Sarcophagus in the Lobby and my daughter thought
that it would be a nice thing for her, her boyfriend and me to see.

I tried to get accessible information related to the tour including pricing
and so forth. Though they had a shuttle and booked tours (for $32.00) they
had neither print nor accessible information.

I was guided to the ticket line by my daughter. And I paid seventy five
bucks for the tour.

I asked if they had any Braille information, audio tours and/or other
accommodations for blind folks at every step along the way. All of the
ticket takers addressed me through my daughter in spite of the fact that I
paid for the tour. All kept saying they had an audio tour for six dollars
but didn't know of anything else.

I said that I wouldn't pay for the audio tour.

They told me to speak to the staff up the stairs at the entry to the exhibit
itself.

This I did and was adamant about not paying extra for the audio tour.
Finally, one lady left for about fifteen minutes to "talk to her boss". She
came back with the "Omar Sharef" digital audio tour and said I could use it
for free if I left my ID at the desk.

This I did. (Oh by the way she gave my daughter the print booklet that
accompanied the digital recorder. And again stated that they had nothing in
Braille and again I asked if they had any models or "touch to see" exhibits.
She said, "No everything is behind glass."

I discovered once in the exhibit area that the digital recording had no
relationship really to the printed exhibit information as the latter was
read to me by my daughter's boyfriend.

It frankly, was not very useful and again no other accommodations were
offered.

After the tour we did go downstairs to the over priced gift shop and my
daughter pointed out several models of some of the exhibit items which I
actually gained some value from sampling, tracing.

All in all the most glaring thing is that no one working for the museum or
the tour really had any idea about any accommodations if any were available.
In short there was obviously a tremendous lack of training and if the tour
has accommodations for people who are blind or otherwise disabled the
frontline workers sure didn't know about it.

I've gone to other museums recently and even if displays aren't always
accessible I've had no problem getting staff to explain them and actually
guide me. Further in many of our local museums we have universally
accessible audio stations that give some detail as to exhibits. None of that
was available on this tour.


Articles separated by +++

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

By Vanessa Blum

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 11, 2006

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

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.




+++

Blind Couple Sues Organizers Of King Tut Exhibit

Local10.com, February 13, 2006

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

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.

+++


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

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