By Elisabeth Axel President & Creative Director, Art Beyond Sight Each October, Art Beyond Sight (ABS) and our partners around the world celebrate Awareness Month, offering opportunities to highlight inclusion initiatives in museums, libraries and other cultural venues. ABS started Awareness Month in 2003 to raise awareness of the importance of accessibility to the arts for people who are blind or have low vision. Since then, this global initiative has grown to include more than 200 partners and now focuses on all disabilities. From the folks just getting started, to the regularly sought after advisory board member, Awareness Month is a chance to retrain, recharge, and remind us that a good program is made great when it is inclusive. Awareness Month 2014 marks the launch of our ABS Inclusion Toolkits. These toolkits were developed in response to interests and needs expressed by museum representatives across the country. Use the toolkits to:

• Learn about the cost of access.
• Design a structured approach to gathering input on inclusion from your stakeholders.
• Get firsthand insight on barriers to the arts and culture experienced by those with disabilities.
• Access resources to support front-line staff.
• Discover the basics behind audio description, tactile experiences, and captioning.

Here are ways that you can get involved in ABS Awareness Month:

• Connect with ABS on Facebook and Twitter and sign-up for our e-blasts for information on enhancing accessibility in your organization.
• Learn more about inclusive programs by participating in the free ABS Crash Course on October 27. Access the schedule in advance to find sessions of interest to you and your colleagues.
• Submit a story to ABS that features your accessible programs for our Awareness Month Blog. Learn more here.
• Visit the ABS Awareness Month website to access the ABS Inclusion Toolkit and to learn more about Awareness Month.

This project was funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.