Since 2022, the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been implementing the project «Accessible Museum: Cultural Heritage for All» for visitors with disabilities. The project's objective is to create an accessible museum environment for persons with various types of disabilities, including visual, hearing, mobility, wheelchair-related, and intellectual impairments.
As part of the project, audio descriptions of the Museum’s exterior, interior, exhibition halls, and exhibits have been developed. The audio description texts were professionally prepared in three languages, recorded, and integrated into audio guides. In addition, museum conservators and restorers created tactile replicas of museum exhibits, enabling visitors with visual impairments to explore the exhibits through touch. Tactile replicas are accompanied by Braille information labels with descriptions in three languages.
At the beginning of a tour, visitors receive headphones and audio-guide devices containing verbal information, allowing them to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Museum’s collections and cultural treasures.
Tactile replicas of exhibits have been installed in the following exhibition halls: Ancient and Medieval History Hall, Ancient Turkic Civilization Hall, Ancient Art and Technologies of the Great Steppe Hall No. 1 and No. 2, Traditional Kazakh Culture Hall No. 1 and No. 2, History of Kazakhstan (13th-20th Centuries) Hall, and Fine Arts Hall No. 1. These include tactile replicas of such exhibits as the stone sculpture «Tobol Thinker», «Taksai Princess», «Golden Man», the sculpture «Apa», a tactile replica of a Breast Ornament, and others.
For visitors with hearing impairments, the Museum has prepared video materials with sign language interpretation in Kazakh and Russian. These videos are available through information kiosks and on tablets provided during guided tours. Videos with sign language interpretation and subtitles have also been published on the Museum’s YouTube channel. The videos were produced in collaboration with sign language interpreter Khasan Israilov.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the National Museum in 2024, audio descriptions for 19 paintings displayed in Fine Arts Hall No. 1 were created under the supervision of A. Loenko, Senior Lecturer at M. Narikbayev University, with the participation of master’s students specializing in Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies. At the end of the year, during the presentation of the audio description project «The Voice of Paintings», attended by Members of Parliament, blind consultants specializing in audio description, and audiovisual translation experts, the Museum received 19 audio descriptions in Kazakh and Russian as a donation.
Within the framework of the project «Accessible Museum: Cultural Heritage for All», specialists of the Department of Museum Pedagogy and Children's Creativity also completed a 36-academic-hour professional training course in Museum Audio Description.
As of January 2026, the Museum possesses 30 tactile replicas of exhibits and 51 audio descriptions. In addition, the Museum has:
- 17 audio guides featuring audio descriptions in Kazakh, Russian, and English;
- 10 tablets containing videos with sign language interpretation in Kazakh and Russian;
- 28 Braille labels accompanying tactile replicas of exhibits.
Furthermore, tactile exhibits are equipped with accessibility information panels. A total of 86 panels have been installed, indicating:
- that the exhibit is intended for blind and visually impaired visitors;
- the availability of audio descriptions;
- permission to touch the exhibit;
- the presence of Braille information;
- the availability of sign language-guided tours on display monitors.
To ensure accessibility for visitors with different categories of disabilities, the Museum has installed tactile and raised-letter pictograms marked «ENTRANCE», «EXIT», «ELEVATOR», «CLOAKROOM», «ACCESSIBLE TOILET», «MEDICAL ROOM», «WHEELCHAIRS», and others in Kazakh, Russian, and English, with Braille duplication.
The Museum is also equipped with:
- specially adapted restrooms for persons with disabilities, featuring support rails, wall-mounted handrails, staff call buttons, and tactile orientation schemes for visitors with visual impairments;
- five wheelchairs located in a designated area near the main entrance (Block 5, Level 2);
- ramps at the main entrance (Block 5, Level 2) and on Level 1 of Block 5;
- staff assistance call buttons in accessible restrooms and at the entrances on Levels 1 and 2 of Block 5;
- 15 mobile adjustable-height information stands with accessibility signage for persons with disabilities.
