(a) The following examples will illustrate the application of the foregoing provisions to some of the activities funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
(1) A museum exhibition catalogue or small press editions supported by the Endowment may be made usable by the blind and the visually impaired through cassette tapes, records, discs, braille, readers and simultaneous publications;
(2) A theatre performance supported by Federal funds may be made available to deaf and hearing impaired persons through the use of a sign language interpreter or by providing scripts in advance of the performance.
(3) A performing arts organization receiving Federal funds and offering, for example, a specific event in an inaccessible facility may arrange to provide a reasonable opportunity for that specific event to be offered to the public at large in an alternative accessible space; e.g., a theatre offering four different plays a season may offer at least one performance of each play in an alternative accessible space.
(4) Recipients of federal funds should make every effort to assure that they do not support organizations or individuals that discriminate;
(5) A handicapped person with experience and expertise equal to qualification standards established by a planning or advisory board may not be excluded from participation on the board on the basis of handicap. This does not mean that every planning or advisory board necessarily must include a handicapped person.
(b) Despite the existence of permissible separate or different aid, benefits, or services, e.g., periodic performances in alternative accessible spaces, a physically handicapped person who wishes to be, and can be, escorted to a seat, may not be denied such access to an otherwise inaccessible theatre.
(c) State arts agencies are obligated to develop methods of administering federal funds so as to ensure that handicapped persons are not subjected to discrimination on the basis of handicap either by sub-grantees or by the manner in which the funds are distributed.
(d) In the event Endowment funds are utilized to construct, expand, alter, lease or rent a facility, the aid, benefits, or services provided in or through that facility must be conducted in accordance with these regulations, e.g., a museum receiving a grant to renovate an existing facility must assure that all museum aid, benefits, or services conducted in that facility are accessible to handicapped persons.
(e) In carrying out the mandate of section 504 and these implementing regulations recipients should make every effort to administer Endowment assisted programs or activities in a setting in which able-bodied and disabled persons are integrated, e.g., tours made available to the hearing impaired should be open to the public at large and everyone should be permitted to enjoy the benefits of a tactile experience in a museum.
[44 FR 22734, Apr. 17, 1979, as amended at 68 FR 51384, Aug. 26, 2003]