Accessibility Excellence Acknowledgements

Funding

This toolkit was funded by a National Leadership Grant for Museums from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to PA Museums (grant number MG-50-19-0046-19) with matching funds from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). PA Museums and PHMC are grateful to IMLS for its support and interest in the project. To learn more about IMLS, visit www.imls.gov. Further funding was provided by PHMC to help support the project’s timeline extension during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without grant funding from IMLS and matching funding from the PHMC, the creation of this program would not have been possible.

Community

We thank our colleagues at American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), particularly Cherie Cook, formerly Senior Project Manager, for advice and partnership. We also thank our colleagues at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) for meeting with us and advising us early in the project.

The Empathetic Museum Maturity Model and Museums & Race Report Card provided inspiration for the format of our Self-Study Maturity Model and we heartily recommend using their tools as resources for DEIA work.

Claudia Ocello of Museum Partners Consulting created the assessments that we used to evaluate the toolkit during the pilot phase and provided thoughtful reports to help us move work forward in the final edits.

Meghan Armstrong Tataleba (Assistant Program Analyst, Concurrent Technologies Corporation) provided technical assistance and advice on developing the toolkit in a digital format.

The authors thank Ellen Kuwana, MS, of Kuwana Consulting, for providing editorial support.

The authors thank Theo Braddy, of Theo Braddy Consulting, for providing editorial support.

Cecille Shellman, of Cecille Shellman Consulting, who supported our teams through her kindness, honestly, and expert guidance through diversity training.

Alyssa Machida generously allowed us to include an excerpt of the Dreamspace Project workbook in the toolkit.

Caroline Braden (Accessibility Specialist, The Henry Ford) and Megan DiRienzo (Interpretive Planner, Detroit Institute of Arts) provided wonderful advice on the toolkit-in-progress.

Public Resources from the Regional ADA Centers: particularly Mid-Atlantic ADA, Great Lakes ADA Center, New England ADA, and the Institute for Human Centered Design.

Agency websites and many conversations with colleagues and at the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania gave us expert guidance and advice such as: ASERT, Department of Human Services (DHS) Bureau of Supports for Autism and Special Populations, DHS Disability and Aging Resources, Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services, DLI Disability Services, DLI Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, DLI Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

Special thanks are also due to the museum and cultural professionals from across the country who shared their expertise and inspiration around accessibility, including members of Art-Reach in Philadelphia, the Michigan Alliance for Cultural Accessibility (MACA), the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium (CCAC), and the Museum Arts Culture Accessibility Consortium (MAC) in New York City.

The Plain Language ideal has made lasting change for many people on our team. The resources from Plan Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) and the Center for Plain Language became a key to our editing style guide. The following volunteer readers gave us written feedback like, “Cultivating… fancy-schmancy – what do you mean here?”: Erin Doherty, Angie Fugo, Meghan Klingel, Donna Ledbetter, Tim Mikulski, Leslie Poster, Erin Quinn, Alyssa Schaub-Rimel, Kimberly Shorter, Jennifer Teagarden, and Amber Turner.

Accessibility Excellence Project Team:

Accessibility Excellence Working Group (AEWG)

- - Jenny Angell, Project Manager, PA Museums
  - Rusty Baker, Executive Director, PA Museums
  - Michael Bertheaud, Eastern Division Chief, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Janet Bowen, Museum Educator, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Sarah Buffington, Curator, Old Economy Village, PHMC
  - Karen Cunningham, Custodial Guide Supervisor, Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, PHMC
  - Dave Dunn, Formerly Chief, Special Projects, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - John Fielding, Curator, Anthracite Heritage Museum, PHMC
  - Amy Fox, Museum Educator, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Charles Fox, Western Division Chief, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC and Acting Director, State Museum of Pennsylvania
  - Jen Gleim, Curator, PA Military Museum, PHMC
  - Sue Hanna, Formerly Senior Curator at Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Melissa Mann, Bureau Director, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Juliette O’Connor, Museum Educator, Railroad Museum of PA, PHMC
  - Mary Ellyn Kunz, formerly Museum Educator, Pennsbury Manor, PHMC
  - Joe Lauver, Chief, Division of Architecture and Preservation, PHMC
  - Stewart McKinley, Building Maintenance Foreman, Drake Well Museum and Park, PHMC
  - Doug Miller, Site Administrator, Pennsbury Manor, PHMC
  - Patrick Morrison, Site Administrator, Railroad Museum of PA, PHMC
  - Janice Mullin, Chief, Partner and Placed Properties, PHMC
  - Andy Pelesky, Building Maintenance Foreman, Old Economy Village, PHMC
  - Brenda Reigle, Formerly Director, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Joshua Roth, Site Administrator, PA Lumber Museum, PHMC

Accessibility Excellence Advisory Council (AAC)

- - Jenny Angell, Project Manager, PA Museums
  - Rusty Baker, Executive Director, PA Museums
  - Ray Bloomer, Director of Education and Technical Assistance, National Center on Accessibility
  - Janet Bowen, Museum Educator, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Cheryl Rush Dix, Principal, Pathlight Associates, LLC
  - Amy Fox, Museum Educator, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Janetta Green, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania
  - Melissa Hawkins, Director, Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry
  - Lynn Kawaratani, Assistant Director of Partnerships and Programming, University of Pittsburgh, Asian Studies Center
  - Andrea Lowery, Executive Director, PHMC
  - Corey Norris, Senior Director, Readiness, Continuity, and Preparedness, Concurrent Technologies Corporation
  - Melissa Mann, Bureau Director, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Brenda Reigle, Formerly Bureau Director, Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, PHMC
  - Vivienne Shaffer, Accessibility Consultant and Audio Describer
  - Beverly Sheppard, Principal, BKS Consulting

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