MCA – Accessibility

Admission

Visitors with disabilities and their caregivers receive free admission to the museum.

Services to assist in mobility

Wheelchairs are available free of charge for your visit at the coat checks on the first and second floors. Supplies are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, mobile stools are available for visitor use. To borrow, ask a visitor experience associate on the second floor.

Services for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing

When possible, the MCA provides sign language interpretation, open captioning, and assistive listening devices for performances and activities in our theater as well as talks, tours, or educational programs. These preplanned services are often denoted in the event’s page.

If you are in need of a particular service during your visit to the museum, our Visitor Services staff will do their best to accommodate. If you would like more information, or have any questions, you can email Box Office staff at <!-- coded = "" key = "rH3PhUzNjs2KwRkqJnB-_IVg@Tm1af0DAEveX7iYpbcGM5dQ86W.Sl9Fux4yOLtCZo" shift=coded.length link="" for (i=0; i<coded.length; i++) { if (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))==-1) { ltr = coded.charAt(i) link += (ltr) } else { ltr = (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))-shift+key.length) % key.length link += (key.charAt(ltr)) } } document.write(""+link+"") //--> .

Services for people who are blind or color-blind or have low vision

EnChroma color blindness–correcting glasses are available for individual visits and tours. When possible we provide audio description for performances and activities in our theater. If you are interested in these services, you can email the Box Office team at <!-- coded = "" key = "8mvftBDnCVWFikTLwap0Qy6x_reJKS-gH7ZI9OG5RElq@YX4NzP1ocAMU.h2j3usdb" shift=coded.length link="" for (i=0; i<coded.length; i++) { if (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))==-1) { ltr = coded.charAt(i) link += (ltr) } else { ltr = (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))-shift+key.length) % key.length link += (key.charAt(ltr)) } } document.write(""+link+"") //--> . Advance notice helps us to plan your visit. In addition to on-site offerings, we provide descriptions of artworks on our website in both short and long description formats through an initiative to describe images called the Coyote Project.

Buying Tickets

When purchasing admission tickets or to an event please indicate if you are interested in any of our accessibility services; better yet email the Box Office at <!-- coded = "" key = "DnfUu37LHsP4Jv-zTqAbw6po0GFKe9aI1XdYtRihy2S_c@CgMW.5lNZkxjOQE8rmVB" shift=coded.length link="" for (i=0; i<coded.length; i++) { if (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))==-1) { ltr = coded.charAt(i) link += (ltr) } else { ltr = (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))-shift+key.length) % key.length link += (key.charAt(ltr)) } } document.write(""+link+"") //--> to plan your visit with us. As some services require advance planning, we recommend that you make arrangements two weeks in advance of your visit.

Garage parking

The MCA’s parking garage has accessible parking spaces and we offer $16 flat-rate parking for those who use those spaces. Stop by the admissions desk or coat check for an accessible parking validation.

Service Animals

Service animals are permitted inside the MCA. Service animals are working animals; pets are not allowed.

Service animals are trained to assist people with disabilities in the activities of normal living. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines service animals as “any animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.” Service animals must be on a leash and under their master’s control at all times.

Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA and are therefore not allowed inside the MCA.

Check out our recommended routes to different areas of the museum so you can explore the galleries, enjoy a performance in the theater, shop in the MCA Store, eat at Marisol—or find the nearest restroom.

With the redesign of our website, the museum has committed to adhering to ADA standards for web accessibility. Our web team is also working on some groundbreaking accessibility initiatives that mirror our institutional mission to be a leading contemporary art museum that offers greater access to the visual arts.

Accessibility on the Web

This website was designed with accessibility in mind, and every effort has been made to comply with the website standards articulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act and by the World Wide Web Consortium’s (WC3) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Our efforts to create a site that adheres to best practices in accessible design and that is also generous and experimental in its accommodations for visitors with vision, hearing, or cognitive impairments have been supported by Sina Bahram, one of the museum community’s leading accessibility consultants and advocates. Together, we have developed a series of projects that we hope will serve as a model for art museums hoping to reach and support members of the disability community.

One of the most exciting and groundbreaking of these initiatives is Coyote, a toolkit and project to create and publish visual descriptions of the images on this site. Our Coyote software, developed with Sina Bahram’s team at Prime Access Consulting, is an open source tool that we are pleased to be able to share with the museum community. Here at the MCA it has been used by staff from across the museum to produce image descriptions that allow people who are blind or visually impaired to engage more fully with the visual arts.

The popularity of these image descriptions—previously available only to people equipped with screen readers—has encouraged us to share them with all site visitors. As of January 2018, an on/off toggle was added to the navigation. This allows a website visitor to turn on visual descriptions for many of the images on our site.

We are happy to hear from members of the community who have questions about our website accessibility practices; please write to us at <!-- coded = "" key = "jH0WK1gJiSeR4AYGLmFDN5U.CkExtyrwh3986au@coQzvTZVnsb_lIXp-2dfBqMOP7" shift=coded.length link="" for (i=0; i<coded.length; i++) { if (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))==-1) { ltr = coded.charAt(i) link += (ltr) } else { ltr = (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))-shift+key.length) % key.length link += (key.charAt(ltr)) } } document.write(""+link+"") //--> with any suggestions or questions.

The Coyote project has been supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Lois and Steve Eisen and The Eisen Family Foundation.

We encourage you to contact our Box Office team at 312-397-4010 before attending events in the Edlis Neeson Theater. A team member can lead you to our wheelchair accessible seating or have an assistive listening device ready, free of charge.

For information on accessibility options such as American Sign Language interpretation, open captioning, relaxed performances, and audio description, email the Box Office at <!-- coded = "" key = "eUjPD1iMQrz84TxopG@.-aOHKm_vqZ7nR05Yl2FNuItJwLf9BgWSAXb6kChyEcdV3s" shift=coded.length link="" for (i=0; i<coded.length; i++) { if (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))==-1) { ltr = coded.charAt(i) link += (ltr) } else { ltr = (key.indexOf(coded.charAt(i))-shift+key.length) % key.length link += (key.charAt(ltr)) } } document.write(""+link+"") //--> at least two weeks in advance.

Need a place to take a break, rest, reflect, pray, or breastfeed?

Check out our Quiet Space on the first floor of the museum, near the Griffin entrance. This space includes seating, tissues, and locks from the inside for privacy.

This space is available to visitors for their use. If you need longer than 30 minutes, talk to a Visitor Experience Associate at the first floor admissions desk. Learn more about the space on our FAQ page.