COVID-19 Pandemic: Threat or Opportunity for Blind and Partially Sighted Museum Visitors?

Abstract

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is having a severe impact on museums and the cultural sector. New social distancing rules, one-way navigation systems, and hand sanitising regulations are affecting the embodied practice of visitors inside the museum. These changes potentially pose a threat to the experience of disabled people, in particular blind and partially sighted visitors, as they create new barriers to access the environment and the collection. On the other hand, the development of accessible digital content and access to online collections offered a positive experience during the lockdown periods, as disabled people could socialise and participate in cultural activities from home. Museums are now called upon to identify the long-term positive and negative effects of the pandemic on the physical and digital museum experience of disabled visitors. Museum professionals need to work around the clock to ensure that new embodied and digital practices become long-term opportunities to enhance accessibility and inclusion, rather than another insurmountable barrier for disabled people.