Kleege, who is blind and has been on many touch tours of museums, has long seen the potential for institutions to do more. The daughter of a painter and a sculptor, she grew up going to artists’ studios, galleries, and museums, and has advocated for such spaces to go beyond ramps and ADA compliance.
Universal Design (UD) is an approach to design that increases the potential for developing a better quality of life for a wide range of individuals. It is a design process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012). It creates products, systems, and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.
