The Declaration's Journey Accessibility Resources
American Sign Language Video Translations
Declaration 101
The first film in the exhibition provides an overview of and context for the Declaration of Independence.
Declaration Theater
The film shown in the Declaration Theater in the exhibition explores the influence of the Declaration both in America and abroad.
American Sign Language interpretation provided in partnership with Hands Up Productions and Deaf actor Malik Paris.
Composing Stick
This tactile label encourages guests to explore the process of print in the 19th century.
In the 1800s, printers used long, adjustable “composing sticks” to arrange moveable type (letters) before setting them into a printing press. They had to reverse the entire document, creating a mirror image that would print correctly.
Composing the text for an entire newspaper could take hours.
Feel the letters on the composing stick on the label, which match the title of the Aurora de Chile newspaper on display nearby.
This booklet contains versions of images in the exhibition using a variety of raised textures, allowing guests to experience them through touch. It also includes Braille copies of important texts in the exhibition, such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
Hands-On Discovery Cart
Learn more about objects and stories on display in the special exhibition by touching replica handling objects like an inkball, and type for a press with an educator inside the space.
To provide feedback on accessibility in the exhibition, please contact [email protected].