Accessibility and inclusion in museum: the case of Marta, National Archeological Museum of Taranto

The museum is a cultural and social space for everyone, a place of culture that should recognize its user opportunities for heterogenous involvement through diversified and multi-sensory experiences. An accessible and inclusive social and cultural space that is inspired by the demands of Universal Design, a design model that pays attention to the means and ways in which the physical and immaterial becomes usable and accessible for all and useful to respond to a plethora of needs expressed by users with and without disability. According to a user perception perspective, the paper discusses some results of a cognitive path on the level of accessibility of the services and exhibitions of the MArTA archaeological museum in Taranto, presenting some proposals for improvement and development of the inclusion and accessibility shared in the advice developed by the experts of the University of Salento. Through a multiple-choice questionnaire and a wide analysis of data, including qualitative data received from the analysis of specific interviews addressed to a sample of 116 visitors, it was possible to trace and describe the accessibility plan relating to the MArTA museum according to a user perspective perception. One of the results of this work is that it was achieved through real participatory planning between working groups and stakeholders, urging an interdisciplinary dialogue and a process of accountability that affects everyone.