%0 Generic
%9 ['eprint_fieldopt_thesis_type_Master' not defined]
%A Hon, Minna
%C Heidelberg
%D 2025
%F heidok:36325
%R 10.11588/heidok.00036325
%T Navigating Barriers in Taiwanese Museums
%U https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/36325/
%X People with disabilities have often been framed as a burden to society and tend to have more difficulties to participate in society than people without disabilities. To this day they fight for equal rights. Reported cases of disabilities make up around 5% of Taiwan’s population. The amount of people with disabilities is increasing incrementally, which is partly due to an aging society. How Taiwan navigates accessibility issues can be analyzed by a look at how legislation and specifically cultural institutions have adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. The social responsibility of museums as cultural institutions to be inclusive has been widely discussed. To cement that fact the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has revised the definition of museum in 2022. Improvements in museum’s accessibility services to people with disabilities indicate its importance. The main focus of this research will be an analysis of accessibility of national museums in Taiwan. Accessibility is divided into architectural, informational and emotional accessibility. Architectural accessibility is analyzed by information provided by the Ministry of Culture and supplemented by field work in Taiwan. Informational accessibility concentrates on digital accessibility. With the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Affairs in 2021, Taiwan seems to have acknowledged the importance of digital transformation. Web access is an important tool for obtaining information in the digital age, but it can be difficult for people with disabilities to navigate, especially those with visual impairments. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) serve as an international standard for the accessibility of web content. The WCAG is a standard implemented throughout all government websites, as well as national museum websites in Taiwan. Emotional accessibility is depicted by case studies in various national museums because how museums choose to create an emotional connection to its visitors with disabilities is not standardized.