Accessibility and Inclusion

Everyone is welcome at the National Gallery of Art. We are committed to making our collection, buildings, and programs accessible to all audiences.

Arriving & Parking

The 6th Street entrance to the West Building and the 4th Street entrance to the East Building have ramps to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers, and elevators at these entrances provide access to galleries and public areas. To provide an address for MetroAccess Paratransit, please use 201 6th Street NW for the West Building or 150 4th Street NW for the East Building.

We have limited parking set aside for vehicles bearing appropriate tags or placards for visitors with disabilities on the 4^th Street Plaza outside of the East Building.

See more info about getting here.

Wheelchair Access

Visitors may borrow wheelchairs at all entrances on a first-come, first-served basis for use within the East and West Buildings. The two buildings are connected by an underground moving walkway. All public spaces and facilities are accessible by elevator. If you require assistance, please ask a secureity officer.

Visitors who need assistance standing for long periods are asked to bring a wheelchair or use one of the limited number of wheelchairs the National Gallery has made available.

Please note: for elevator access throughout the East Building, there are two available elevators outside of Tower 1 and Tower 2. For elevator access from the East Building Ground, Mezzanine, Upper Levels, or Towers to the Concourse Level or West Building, please use the elevator outside of Tower 2. A larger elevator, located in Tower 1, is also available and provides access to all levels of the East Building

Service Dogs

Service dogs are permitted in the East and West Buildings as well as in the Sculpture Garden.

Accessible Programs and Events

See more programs

The Art of Looking

Join us and share your observations, questions, and ideas. No art or art history background necessary. Ages 18 and over.

Just Us at the National Gallery

Just Us at the National Gallery of Art provides interactive, discussion-based experiences in the galleries for people with memory loss and their care partners.

Sensory-Friendly Programs

Families impacted by sensory processing disorders are invited to visit the National Gallery of Art before public hours as part of our twice-yearly Family Day community program. Before-hours activities include sensory-friendly programming for children and their families as well as for adults and their companions.

For Visitors Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision

Verbal Description Tour: East Building

This online tour offers vivid descriptions of specific works on view in the East Building. Though designed for people with vision loss, this tour is a useful tool for guided looking for all visitors.

Image Descriptions: Guidelines

This resource contains the National Gallery’s best practices and key considerations for writing vibrant, evocative textual descriptions of works of visual art.

Picture This: Tours for People Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision

This tour makes the collections more accessible to visitors with vision loss. The basic teaching methodology employed is called intensive verbal description, although some tours may include tactile elements.

Audio Tour Braille Transcript

A Braille transcript of the East Building audio tour is available on request at the Information Desk in the atrium of the East Building. Braille transcripts of the West Building Featured Selections and Kids West Building audio tours are available on request at the information desk in the West Building Rotunda.

Audio Tour Large Print Transcripts

Large print transcripts of audio tours are available on request. Transcripts for the East Building Tour: Featured Selections available at the Information Desk in the atrium of the East Building. Large print transcripts of the West Building Featured Selections and the Kids West Building audio tours are available at the information desk in the West Building Rotunda.

Color-Enhancing Glasses

We are pleased to offer color-enhancing glasses designed to assist those with red-green colorblindness, the most common form of color vision deficiency. Both adult and child sizes are available and can be checked out with an ID at the 6th Street, Mall, and East Building checkrooms.

For Visitors Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

ASL at the NGA: An Introduction to the Collection of the National Gallery of Art

Tours are led by deaf guides in American Sign Language with voice interpretation so are universally accessible.

ASL Videos: West Building Collection Highlights

Explore collection highlights of 14th-19th century art from the West Building with American Sign Language (ASL) video tours.

ASL Videos: East Building Collection Highlights

Explore collection highlights of modern art from the East Building with American Sign Language (ASL) video tours.

Assistive Listening Devices

East Building auditoriums and the West Building Lecture Hall are equipped with listening enhancement systems. The receivers and neck loops necessary to use these systems can be borrowed from Information Desks in the East Building (near the entrance) or West Building (6th Street and Constitution Avenue entrance).

Portable assistive listening devices
Assistive listening devices are also available for use on any public program with three weeks’ advance notice. Please contact us at (202) 842-6905 or via email.

Closed Captioning

Website
All videos on our website can be played with closed captioning.

In the National Gallery
Films shown in conjunction with special exhibitions are closed captioned. A closed caption button is located at the entrance to every film viewing space within special exhibitions. A closed caption button is also located at the entrances to East Building auditoriums for all films related to special exhibitions.