People with disabilities visit art museums: an exploratory study of obstacles and difficulties

Abstract

Visits to art museums are a major component of culture and heritage tourism. This study focuses on the obstacles that Israelis with disabilities – 30 people who use wheelchairs or crutches and 15 visually impaired people – face while visiting art museums. The in-depth interviews revealed that people with disabilities are not able to experience the museum as they wish, despite museum efforts toward becoming accessible to all. Participants emphasize the non-physical elements of the museum environment (e.g. staff attitudes and interaction with other visitors), as being major difficulties in achieving a full museum experience. The study shows that visitors often turn the barriers they confront into a difficulty, nevertheless the struggle itself has a negative effect on the visit experience.