+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
|                             | **[Areas Evaluated:]{.underline}**     |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Orientation/Signage**                |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 1 - First Families**         |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 2 - Symbol and Image**       |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 3 - White House              |
|                             | Architecture**                         |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 4 - White House Interiors**  |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 5 - Working White House**    |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 6 - Ceremonies and           |
|                             | Celebrities**                          |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **Overall Exhibit           |                                        |
| Facility**                  |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **1.** Does access to the   | The exhibits meet the minimum          |
| exhibit meet the HFC and    | wheelchair access standards, but there |
| ABAAS guidelines for        | are pinch points in areas between the  |
| circulation space           | building columns and where the         |
| throughout the exhibit      | exhibits jut outward which are awkward |
| area? (36\"-wide clear      | for visitors in wheelchairs. There are |
| width for passageways,      | some other places that are awkward to  |
| requirements for turning    | navigate, between the freestanding     |
| spaces, etc. p. 24- p.26)   | vertical exhibit units and the         |
|                             | exhibits along the wall. An example of |
|                             | one of the pinch points behind a       |
|                             | column is shown in Photo No. 1. The    |
|                             | clearance here is 41 inches.           |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **2.** Are the floors       | Yes, the exhibit room is all on one    |
| stable, level, firm, and    | level, and carpeted with a low-nap     |
| slip-resistant, and are all | carpet. It has a ramp at the entrance  |
| changes in level in         | which complies with the guidelines.    |
| accordance with the HFC and |                                        |
| ABAAS guidelines? Do any    |                                        |
| ramps have less than a 1\"  |                                        |
| rise per 12\" run? (p.23)   |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **3.** Does the information | Yes, the information desk complies     |
| desk have a section made to | with a lift-up top surface area which  |
| accommodate both a visitor  | the staff uses to go into and out of   |
| in a wheelchair and an      | the kiosk and is totally open          |
| employee in a wheelchair,   | underneath. It is about 34\" above the |
| in accordance with the HFC  | floor.                                 |
| and ABAAS standards?        |                                        |
| (p.30-p.31)                 |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **4.** Does any fixed       | All the seating is either lightweight  |
| seating area in the exhibit | folding chairs which visitors can      |
| area, lobby or theater area | move, or benches which can be          |
| of the facility comply with | rearranged by park staff.              |
| the ABAAS requirement for   |                                        |
| wheelchair spaces under     |                                        |
| Table 221.2.1.1, and        |                                        |
| dimensions under ABAAS 801  |                                        |
| and 802?                    |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **5.** Has a lighting       | **Lighting is a problem in the overall |
| system been chosen to light | exhibit space.** Some of the exhibit   |
| the exhibit text for good   | graphics have their own internal       |
| readability, reduce glare,  | lighting; they are backlit graphic     |
| and allow for flexibility   | panels. The artifact cases have light  |
| and adjustability? Has the  | chambers. Some of the graphic panels   |
| designer chosen finishes    | have their own light fixtures,         |
| and surfaces for graphics   | although these are aging and become a  |
| and other exhibit elements  | maintenance problem. Some of the       |
| which reduce glare, harsh   | backlit fixtures are in need of        |
| shadows or reflections?     | replacement as well. The exhibit room  |
|                             | is an extremely large space in an old  |
|                             | building, with large chandeliers       |
|                             | hanging from the very high ceiling to  |
|                             | provide ambient light. Several exhibit |
|                             | panels are without their own           |
|                             | dedicated, functioning, light source   |
|                             | and are too dimly lit by the ambient   |
|                             | light to be fully accessible. The      |
|                             | visitors eyes are drawn to the         |
|                             | brightly lit exhibits, and they tend   |
|                             | to miss the dimly lit panels, which    |
|                             | may have interpretive or orientation   |
|                             | information which could be useful to   |
|                             | them in their visit.                   |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | Adding additional lighting to the      |
|                             | existing exhibits is hampered by the   |
|                             | lack of electrical outlets.            |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **6.** Is there adequate    | There is glare from the outside light  |
| illumination on the floor   | and lack of adequate artificial light  |
| circulation routes? Is      | inside. The ramp and stairs at the     |
| glare from windows treated  | entrance are lit and circulation       |
| with film, etc.? Are        | routes are OK, however.                |
| transitions between walls   |                                        |
| and floors clearly visible? |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **7**. Have emergency       | Fire alarm strobes and emergency       |
| exhibit signs and fire      | lighting is clearly visible above the  |
| alarm strobe lights been    | exhibits and other structures.         |
| repositioned to allow for   |                                        |
| line-of-sight blocking by   |                                        |
| new exhibit structures?     |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **8.** Is audio description | No audio description is provided.      |
| provided for the exhibits?  |                                        |
| What kind of system is      |                                        |
| being provided, and how     |                                        |
| many playback units are     |                                        |
| available to visitors at    |                                        |
| any given time?             |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **9**. Do the type layout   | Many of the smallest type labels - the |
| typicals in the design meet | captions for images and the artifact   |
| the HFC guidelines as       | labels - use too small a type size.    |
| specified on p. 34 and p.   | They are smaller than 24 point. In     |
| 35 for fonts, sizes,        | addition, when type is placed in a     |
| spacing and line lengths?   | location that it out of a comfortable  |
|                             | viewing range, such a high on a panel  |
|                             | or on the back wall of an exhibit      |
|                             | case, the type size was not increased  |
|                             | as it should have been to enhance      |
|                             | readability.                           |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **10**. Do the design       | The exhibit text was designed with a   |
| layout typicals meet the    | limited palette of white text on a     |
| HFC guidelines for type and | black background, black text on a      |
| background colors and       | light gray background, or white text   |
| contrast?                   | on a wood grain background, except for |
|                             | a few exceptions in artifact cases and |
|                             | on illustrations. For the most part,   |
|                             | the degree of contrast is adequate;    |
|                             | lighting conditions, type placement,   |
|                             | and type sizes create the readability  |
|                             | problems with text.                    |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **11.** Does the exhibit    | The freestanding exhibit units which   |
| present the main            | introduce each exhibit interpretive    |
| interpretive themes on a    | theme are poorly lit, and the eye is   |
| variety of levels of        | first drawn, instead, to the backlit   |
| complexity so they can be   | exhibit panels behind them which       |
| understood by people with   | contain the detailed content of        |
| varying abilities? Is the   | graphic images and captions. The       |
| content arranged in a       | result is that the visitor would tend  |
| hierarchy of information,   | to walk into the exhibit missing the   |
| from the most important     | title and therefore what the           |
| concepts to the most        | particular exhibit area is all about.  |
| detailed? Can people of     |                                        |
| various learning levels,    | Overall, there is lack of hierarchy in |
| ages, and language skills   | the exhibit content, with heads,       |
| walk away with an           | subheads, main themes, more detailed   |
| understanding of the basic  | information, body copy, and captions.  |
| message the exhibit is      | This would have allowed the visitor to |
| meant to convey?            | get the main interpretive message      |
|                             | right away, or to delve into to the    |
|                             | subject in more detail, according to   |
|                             | their ability or inclination.          |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **12.** If there are        | The White House Visitor Center         |
| mini-theaters, do they meet | contains mini-theater areas within it: |
| the HFC and ABAAS           | the Welcome to the White House videos  |
| guidelines for a wheelchair | on the east end of the exhibit hall,   |
| space (p. 32 of the HFC     | and the centrally-located              |
| guidelines)?                | curtained-off area that the park has   |
|                             | created for special programs. These    |
|                             | areas use movable folding chairs and   |
|                             | some benches which are not fixed in    |
|                             | place. There are no barriers to        |
|                             | accommodating wheelchairs in these     |
|                             | areas.                                 |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **13.** If there are        | Audiovisual accessibility such as      |
| mini-theaters, do the       | captioning and assistive listening of  |
| programs meet the HFC and   | the visitor center\'s current video    |
| Section 508 guidelines for  | programs is being addressed under a    |
| captioning, assistive       | separate evaluation report.            |
| listening and audio         |                                        |
| description?                | The visitor center does not have audio |
|                             | description of the exhibits available  |
|                             | to the visitors who are blind. Since   |
|                             | there also are no tactile exhibits, it |
|                             | is vitally important to remedy the     |
|                             | circumstance of these exhibits being   |
|                             | only visual in nature.                 |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **Detailed Exhibit          |                                        |
| Evaluation**                |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **1.** Does the exhibit     | See comments under No. 1 above for     |
| meet the minimum ABAAS      | Overall Exhibit Facility.              |
| guidelines for physical     |                                        |
| access to the exhibit and   |                                        |
| the ABAAS guidelines for    |                                        |
| reach ranges, barriers, and |                                        |
| objects protruding from     |                                        |
| walls?                      |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **2.** Does the exhibit     | **Orientation/Signage:** There is no   |
| present the main            | panel, paper handout, or audio program |
| interpretive themes on a    | to direct visitor flow through the     |
| variety of levels of        | space. There are structures for the    |
| complexity so they can be   | NPS information desk and the Park      |
| understood by people with   | Police which look alike, and the       |
| varying abilities? Is the   | overall space is confusing from the    |
| content arranged in a       | additional setup of folding tables,    |
| hierarchy of information,   | chairs, and mini-theater areas. The    |
| from the most important     | restroom sign in the back of the room  |
| concepts to the most        | is poorly lit and hard to see. There   |
| detailed? The important     | is an orientation panel, but it needs  |
| concepts are explained in   | to be relocated beyond the             |
| large, easy-to-understand   | entrance/security screening area. The  |
| headers and sub-headers and | original orientation map is a layout   |
| the more detailed           | of the visitor center room which       |
| information is in the body  | became out-of-date with operational    |
| copy in smaller text sizes. | alterations to the space which have    |
|                             | happened since the exhibits were       |
|                             | installed in the 90\'s.                |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 1**: As described above, the |
|                             | main title is overlooked; the eye is   |
|                             | drawn to the back-lit exhibits behind  |
|                             | them, which then lack a strong, visual |
|                             | interpretive title, subtitle and       |
|                             | easy-to-understand text. The plaque    |
|                             | printed on wood is poorly lit and lost |
|                             | next to the back-lit panels. If the    |
|                             | text on the wooden panels is the main  |
|                             | theme, it needs to be larger type      |
|                             | size, a more basic idea, and at a      |
|                             | lower reading level. See Photo No. 3   |
|                             | taken with flash to make it visible.   |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 2**: Same comment as for     |
|                             | Exhibit 1. In addition, the text is    |
|                             | mainly captions and some quotations.   |
|                             | There are few interpretive paragraphs. |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 3**: Same comment as for     |
|                             | Exhibit 1. In addition, the exhibit is |
|                             | detailed and technical in content to a |
|                             | greater extent than any of the other   |
|                             | exhibits.                              |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 4**: This exhibit meets this |
|                             | criterion better than any of the       |
|                             | others. It has a greater range of      |
|                             | detail in the interpretation, and the  |
|                             | simpler information is in the lower    |
|                             | level backlit panels which are the     |
|                             | easiest to access panels for children  |
|                             | to read, which is good.                |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 5**: This exhibit has some   |
|                             | variation in its levels of             |
|                             | interpretation but could use some      |
|                             | improvement (see general comments).    |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 6**: Same as general         |
|                             | comments as for Exhibit 1, except at   |
|                             | least here there are some general      |
|                             | themes, \"Formal Occasions\", \"State  |
|                             | Dinners\", etc.                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **3.** Does the exhibit     | **Exhibit 1**: In the Inaugural Medals |
| meet the HFC guidelines for | Case, some labels are so low people    |
| height of artifact cases    | have to squat or bend very low to read |
| and placement of artifact   | them. Also, the text is too small. The |
| labels?                     | layout of the medals should be re-done |
|                             | to make room for the next one, anyway  |
|                             | since the original layout did not      |
|                             | allow for the 21st Century (It has an  |
|                             | area for \"1800\'s\", \"1900\'s\" and  |
|                             | it has run out of room.)               |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 2**: Placement of labels is  |
|                             | acceptable, but type size of labels    |
|                             | still needs to be increased for good   |
|                             | readability.                           |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 3:** Labels in case with     |
|                             | column fragment reproduction are       |
|                             | acceptable. However, the case with the |
|                             | marble mantel fragment has labels on   |
|                             | the case floor which are too low, too  |
|                             | small, poorly lit, and hard to read.   |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 4**: Location of labels in   |
|                             | Blue Room Case is acceptable, but the  |
|                             | label sizes need to be larger. The     |
|                             | label on the floor of the Lincoln      |
|                             | Cabinet Room Case is too small, too    |
|                             | low, in shadow, and hard to read. The  |
|                             | label on the back wall of the case is  |
|                             | too small for that distance.           |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 5**: The label for the       |
|                             | typewriter is too hard to see. It      |
|                             | should be larger, brought forward and  |
|                             | angled. All labels in this case appear |
|                             | to have text a little too              |
|                             | small.(Contrast not a problem; just    |
|                             | size. See Photo 5)                     |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 6**: In the Presidential     |
|                             | China Case, the label type size is too |
|                             | small, especially for the glassware,   |
|                             | which is not well lit in the back. In  |
|                             | the Presidential Seal Case the white   |
|                             | labels on the blue pedestals are too   |
|                             | small. The light level in the case     |
|                             | seems very low, and it needs to be     |
|                             | evaluated if the particular artifacts  |
|                             | in this case require this low of a     |
|                             | light level.                           |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **4.** Does the exhibit     | **All exhibits in general**: There are |
| contain tactile models or   | no tactile or touchable exhibit        |
| other touchable exhibits,   | elements. There are cut-out graphics   |
| as described in the HFC     | that people can reach, and they do     |
| guidelines?                 | touch, but these elements are not      |
|                             | really meant to be touched and become  |
|                             | damaged and broken off by the visitor  |
|                             | handling.                              |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **5.** If there are tactile | **N/A**                                |
| models or touchable         |                                        |
| objects, are they placed at |                                        |
| heights where people in     |                                        |
| wheelchairs can reach the   |                                        |
| entire surface, in          |                                        |
| accordance with the HFC and |                                        |
| ABAAS guidelines?           |                                        |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **6.** Is there a minimum   | **Exhibit 1**: The panels with the     |
| of 70% contrast between     | white text on the wood grain           |
| type and background? Is the | backgrounds are hard to read, since    |
| background solid, instead   | they are poorly lit and adjacent to    |
| of a graphic image? Are     | exhibits that are brightly back-lit.   |
| type and background colors  | They are also mounted at the upper     |
| chosen for good contrast    | limit of the allowable eye level for   |
| and which do not use a      | body copy text.                        |
| red/green combination which |                                        |
| a person with red/green     | **Exhibit 2**: Same comment as for     |
| color blindness would not   | Exhibit 1.                             |
| be able to read?            |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 3**: The exhibits are        |
|                             | front-lit panels with good contrast of |
|                             | text and background; either white on   |
|                             | black or black on light gray.          |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 4**: Contrast and            |
|                             | readability is O.K. overall. Backlit   |
|                             | panels are especially readable, as     |
|                             | largest type sizes are used here. The  |
|                             | illustration \"Cross Section of the    |
|                             | White House from the South\" on the    |
|                             | freestanding unit has readability      |
|                             | problems. The graphic itself is a      |
|                             | low-contrast artwork, originally       |
|                             | intended for a publication, and loses  |
|                             | too much resolution at this large      |
|                             | size.                                  |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 5**: The only contrast       |
|                             | problem is the wood text plaque.       |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 6:** The only contrast       |
|                             | problem is the wood text plaque.       |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| **7.** Is all exhibit text  | **All exhibits in general**: There are |
| located at heights,         | many image captions located above the  |
| positions and angles where  | recommend viewing height for body copy |
| people in wheelchairs, as   | and captions of 60\" from the floor.   |
| well as standing visitors,  | They were also under the minimum point |
| can read it comfortably?    | size of 24 point. If captions or       |
|                             | labels need to be placed higher than   |
|                             | 60\", the point size should be         |
|                             | increased considerably to make up for  |
|                             | the greater distance from the viewer,  |
|                             | in addition to meeting the minimum     |
|                             | size standard.                         |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 1**: The photo captions are  |
|                             | too small, below 24 point in size.     |
|                             | Many of them are above the maximum eye |
|                             | level range allowed in the guidelines, |
|                             | making them even harder to read. This  |
|                             | is true of both back-lit photo         |
|                             | captions and front-lit exhibits, and   |
|                             | some artifact case labels are too low. |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 2**: Positions of most       |
|                             | labels OK, except for some captions in |
|                             | the freestanding exhibit unit, which   |
|                             | are too high, and the type too small.  |
|                             | See Photo No. 2, captions under        |
|                             | cutouts of Jefferson and Adams.        |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 3**: Some captions are       |
|                             | located too high, and the type size is |
|                             | too small for all the captions.        |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 4**: The illustration        |
|                             | \"Cross Section of the White House     |
|                             | from the South\" on the freestanding   |
|                             | unit has readability problems. It is   |
|                             | poorly lit and also receives glare     |
|                             | from the curved mounting and ambient   |
|                             | light. The graphic key text is too     |
|                             | small.                                 |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 5**: Some image captions are |
|                             | too high and the type size is too      |
|                             | small. Some stand-off panels are       |
|                             | blocking views of captions.            |
|                             |                                        |
|                             | **Exhibit 6**: See general comments.   |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+

![](media/image1.jpeg){width="9.0in" height="5.057638888888889in"}

Photo 1

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="9.0in" height="5.057638888888889in"}

Photo 2

These are typical caption labels in the exhibits, and like these, many
are located above eye level and below 24 point in size.

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="9.0in" height="5.057638888888889in"}

Photo 3

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="9.0in" height="5.057638888888889in"}

Photo 4

This is cut-out of the White House is example of a feature which
visitors might want to touch but are not meant to. The graphics on this
panel would lend themselves to being made into tactile bas-relief
exhibits that are meant to be touched.

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="9.0in" height="5.057638888888889in"}

Photo 5

Can you read these labels?

![](media/image6.jpeg){width="9.0in" height="5.057638888888889in"}

Photo 6

These are 2D images, but 3D casts of the same thing would make the
exhibits much more accessible and interesting.