How the Flower Show is making itself accessible to the visually impaired

For the second consecutive year, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society hopes to enrich the experience of its annual Flower Show for blind and low-vision attendees by offering an option for an audio tour.

By partnering with arts and culture accessibility nonprofit Art-Reach, PHS will provide a live verbal rendering of the show, which will explore America’s national parks and culture this year, to visually impaired attendees on March 8. Low-income and visually impaired members of Art-Reach will be able to attend and take the verbal audio tour for $1.

As in years past, verbal descriptions will be provided by professional audio describer Nicole Sardella, who has provided the same service for Book of Mormon and the Franklin Institute‘s “The Brain” exhibit.

Art-Reach works with over 175 organizations to make arts programming accessible, but 175 isn’t enough. Large cultural institutions like museums and theaters that are interested in making their exhibits and shows accessible to the visually impaired are invited to attend an audio description training session hosted by Art-Reach on April 30. Visit the org’s website for more info.