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NEA Office for AccessAbility

The National Endowment for the Arts' Office for AccessAbility was established in 1976 as the advocacy-technical assistance arm of the Arts Endowment for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people living in institutions. The Office works in a myriad of ways to assist the Arts Endowment and its grantees in making arts programs more available to underserved segments of our citizenry. Work includes:

  • Providing technical assistance to individuals and organizations: to open existing programs and make the arts fully accessible to people with disabilities, older adults, and people living in institutions; and in complying with the Endowment's Section 504 Regulations and the Americans with Disabilities Act;

  • Initiating cooperative projects with other federal agencies and non-profit groups to better educate professionals serving older and disabled people concerning access issues and the value and benefits of arts programming.

  • Encouraging and assisting more support for addressing the needs of older and disabled Americans through the Endowment's divisions and through state and national groups concerned with the arts and with underserved populations;

  • Assisting applicants and grantees with project development that involve the targeted groups;

  • Organizing/convening panels, seminars, and workshops for Endowment staff, its grantees, as well as other federal agencies. Recent efforts include: The American Association of Museums, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and Designing for the 21st Century: An International Conference on Universal Design.

Projects and Partnerships

The AccessAbility Office develops a wide range of partnerships with the public and private sectors, for example:

  • The Arts Endowment's leadership initiative to educate designers, schools of design and others on Universal Design continues to advance. This design process goes beyond "special accommodations" to incorporate features that may be used by everyone throughout their life span. This initiative includes a 2001 collection of 32 universal exemplars in the five major design fields on CDRom developed by the Center for Universal Design in Raleigh, NC (http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/). On Feb. 20-21, 2001, Design for the Lifespan was convened at the Endowment to better educate home remodelers on universal design concepts. In June. For a report on our June 7-8, 1999 Meeting on Universal Design, see the Endowment's website. In 1998, the Endowment received the Universal Design Leadership Award for its advancement of this important concept.

  • A national database on Arts Programs Involving Older Americans is being updated by Elders Share the Arts (ESTA) in Brooklyn, NY and is posted on their National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) website with NEA support http://www.creativeaging.org. This unique database profiles a wide variety of arts programs across the country with contact information to encourage networking among the arts and aging fields. Contact ESTA at 718 398-3870, e-mail elderarts@aol.com

  • Arts in Healthcare includes an initiative with the Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) to establish professional arts programming in healthcare institutions. Contact SAH at 202 244-8088 and their website at http://www.societyartshealthcare.org/

  • Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities includes an internship program, state-wide careers' forums and an ArtsBridge effort that are in progress. This initiative began in June 14-16, 1998 with a National Forum on Careers in the Arts that was convened at the John F. Kennedy Center where 300 participants focused on training, funding and jobs. The Endowment developed agreements with other agencies (U.S. Department of Education, Health & Human Services, and the Social Security Administration) to jointly sponsor this first-ever event. Since that time, a series of four follow-up meetings have taken place including a Dec. 1999 policy-education meeting on Supplemental Security Income at the Senate Dirkson Building in Washington, DC; and a November 2000 meeting to prioritize and implement recommendations. For more info via Internet contact the Kennedy Center at http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org, the National Arts and Disabilities Center at http://nadc.ucla.edu/, or our office.

Publications

Publications developed by this office include:

  • The Arts and 504 Handbook, updated in 1992, assists grantees in complying with access regulations. The handbook is no longer available from the Government Printing Office, but you may request a single copy from our AccessAbility Office, and make copies from it. An up-dated publication, the Design for Accessibility Handbook, will be printed in the Summer of 2002.

  • The Accessible Museum, published jointly with the American Association of Museums and the Institute of Museum Services in 1993. It profiles programs that are access models in 19 museums. The book is available for $35 to members.. Their newest publication, Everyone's Welcome: The ADA & Museums, shows how to make collections fully accessible and is $25 for members. Order both from the American Association of Museums Bookstore, 1575 Eye Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202) 289-9127.

  • Disabilities Access Symbols Project developed with the Graphic Artists Guild Foundation, is a graphics package of 12 major access symbols on computer disk designed to help organizations better advertise their accessible programs and facilities. The symbols are available on IBM or Macintosh diskette and as camera-ready slicks. On the Web go to On the Web go to http://www.gag.org/resources/das.html or contact the Graphic Artists Guild, 90 John St., Suite 403, New York, NY 10038, (212) 791-3400 or FAX (212) 791-0333. The cost is $12.95 plus $3.00 shipping and handling.

  • Design for Accessibility: An Arts Administrators Guide, produced in July 1994 with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), is a 700-page Guide that provides detailed guidance on making access an integral part of an organization's staffing, mission, budget, and programs. It is the most comprehensive arts access guide to-date and is available from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 1010 Vermont Ave, Suite 920, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202)-347-6352. The cost is $60.00 for non-profits and $90.00 for others. The updated Design for Accessibility Handbook will be available from NASAA in the fall of 2002.

  • Arts Accessibilty Checklist that outlines major access accommodations to assist organizations in making their facilities and programs fully accessible. Contact your state arts agency's 504/ ADA Coordinator or our office for a copy.

National Endowment for the Arts
Office for AccessAbility
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
Paula Terry, Director
Suzanne Richard, Accessibility Specialist
(202) 682-5532 (V)
(202) 682-5715 (FAX)
(202) 682-5496 (TTY)