Man with short hair and beard on crutches dancing on stage.

Accessibility

The National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to the arts, including people with disabilities, and works to assist individuals and organizations in making their programs and facilities accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities and assist individuals with disabilities in connecting them with resources for access to the arts.

The Arts Endowment’s Office of Accessibility is the advocacy-technical assistance arm of the Arts Endowment to make the arts accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people living in institutions. The Office works in a variety of ways to accomplish its goals, such as:

  • Providing technical assistance to individuals and organizations to help open existing programs and make the arts accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities, older adults, and people living in institutional settings; and to help them comply with the Endowment's Section 504 Regulations under the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act;
  • Initiating cooperative projects with other federal agencies and nonprofit organizations to better educate professionals serving people with disabilities and older adults concerning access issues and the value and benefits of arts programming;
  • Encouraging support for addressing the needs of people with disabilities and older adults through the Endowment's staff and through state and national organizations;
  • Assisting applicants and grantees with the development of projects that involve the disability community, older adults, and people living in institutional settings; and
  • Organizing/convening panels, seminars, and workshops for Endowment staff, its grantees, and other federal agencies.

If you have questions regarding the accessibility of your project, how to ensure your organization is serving people with disabilities, or how to request an accommodation for Arts Endowment activities, please contact the Office of Accessibility at accessibility@arts.gov or (202) 682-5532.

The Arts Endowment’s Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity (OCREEO) is responsible for the development, implementation, and coordination of all aspects of civil rights programs. For programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance from the Arts Endowment, this includes the administration of the nondiscrimination statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. This also includes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by the Arts Endowment.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against based on race, color, national origin, disability or age by an organization that received NEA funding, you may file a complaint with the Endowment. You can contact the Office of Civil Rights Office at CivilRights@arts.gov or by phone (202) 682-5454, or by TTY at (202) 682-5082.

Stories about Accessibility

Making Sure No One Is Excluded

A look at the leadership of the Arts Endowment’s Accessibility Office in making accessibility a priority for arts organizations nationwide, and organizations working in the field like Dancing Wheels (Cleveland, Ohio) and ArtMix (Indianapolis, Indiana).

Gordon Sasaki

Visual Artist and Disability Rights Advocate Gordon Sasaki on the art of visibility.

Just Have Fun! An Art Talk with Jazz Musician Matthew Whitaker

A talk with up-and-coming jazz musician Matthew Whitaker.