The museum of history and industry in seattle will increase access to in-person public programs through new american sign language interpretation and live captioning services

The Historical Society of Seattle and King County received a $123,554 Project Grant award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services' National Leadership Grants program to increase accessibility to in-person public programs. Through new American Sign Language interpretation and live captioning services, the museum aims to make programming more accessible to disability communities and those unable to visit in-person, both during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. It will also launch a pilot initiative to livestream select in-person events. The museum will consider remote attendance for livestreamed programs and conduct direct observation and participant surveys to gauge the impact of the new interpretation and captioning services on attendance and engagement. The period of performance is November 1, 2021 through October 31, 2022.

The museum also will launch a pilot initiative to livestream select in-person programming. Through this work, the museum aims to make its public programs more accessible to people in disability communities who have not been able to engage in past programming, as well as to those who are unable to visit the museum's physical space, both during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and beyond. The museum will consider remote attendance for livestreamed programs, direct observation of in-person audiences, and participant surveys to gauge the impact of the interpretation and captioning services on attendance and engagement.