Access Was Never Equal

What One Million Digital Images Reveal About Access in a Visual World

Visibility is not the same as access. Image created by the author using AI tools.

People move through thousands of images every day.

They scroll past them without thinking. Photographs, diagrams, historical records, moments captured and shared across platforms. The assumption is simple. If something is visible, it is accessible.

But that assumption depends on being able to see.

In April 2026, accessibility expectations for blind and low-vision users are becoming harder to sidestep. The Americans with Disabilities Act has always been about access, but for a long time that conversation stayed tied to physical space. Ramps were added. Elevators were installed. Signage improved. The work was visible, and it was contained within the building.

That boundary no longer holds.

As collections have moved online, access has moved with them. What a visitor encounters on a website is not separate from the museum experience. It is often the first experience. In many cases, it is the only one. The expectation has shifted quietly, but it has shifted completely.

We built digital access around images.

Hundreds of thousands of them. In some cases, millions.