The entrance on the National Mall side of the building is reached by two very long, steep flights of steps. The doors at the National Mall entrance are very heavy. Baird Auditorium contains audio loop amplification for the first 12 rows of the center seating section. Visitors may access the system by activating the telecoils in their hearing aids. The Johnson IMAX Theater is equipped with a multichannel infrared system that provides audio amplification and audio description.
Headsets are available at the box office.
The theater also offers closed-captioning using Rear Window technology. There are Braille labels in the Discovery Room. Tactile museum experiences are provided for all visitors to the Discovery Room and the Insect Zoo. Interpretive carts that roam the exhibit halls Monday through Friday, October through April, feature touchable objects. There is a Visit Planning kiosk that features information on what is happening at the museum that day.