Designing museum communication for people with special needs

Abstract

The aim of the article is to draw attention to the special needs of the recipients of a museum’s offer in the context of communication. Paradoxically, the increase in the number and types of museum offer and developing new ways of making it more attractive, as well as finding new ways of communicating it, may become a barrier for people with special needs. I am specifically referring to people with movement dysfunctions, hearing disorders and visual impairments, as well as physical and intellectual disabilities. In order to verify the methods and effectiveness of communication with the aforementioned groups, research was conducted in 18 state and local government museums. The findings from these studies presented a catalogue of tools and methods used by museum facilities to communicate with people with special needs. In addition, it enabled assessing the functioning of said communication methods in practice. The research discussed in the publication paves the way for further exploration, with the participation of people with particular disabilities, in order to create a communication model based on mutual expectations, experiences, needs and possibilities.