Coinciding with the International Day of Sign Languages, marked on 23 September each year, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) is upgrading its official website (https://nmec.gov.eg) to become the first museum affiliated with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to offer its services and digital content in line with digital accessibility standards. The upgrade, carried out in cooperation with the National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities, ensures easy access to the museum's information and services for all audiences, especially people with disabilities.
The upgrade is in line with the Egyptian state's push toward digital transformation and greater accessibility and inclusion, enabling people with disabilities to access information and online services easily and independently, and offering a more flexible digital experience to all users, particularly people with visual and hearing impairments, so they can benefit from the museum's content and services and take part in cultural and community life.
The website's digital accessibility system includes 28 features that let users adapt the content and browsing experience to their needs, including enlarging or reducing font size, enlarging the cursor, adjusting contrast, enabling dark mode, hiding images and using fonts suited to people with dyslexia, making it easier to browse the site and use its services, including booking visit tickets and guided tours.
The system also offers a number of assistive tools for people with visual impairments, including audio reading and text-to-speech, allowing them to use the online content more easily and independently.
To improve accessibility for people with hearing impairments, the website also offers a sign language service. Highlighting this service on the International Day of Sign Languages underlines the importance of making information and cultural content available to all segments of society and enabling them to learn about the services and cultural content the museum offers.
In this context, Dr. El-Tayeb Abbas, CEO of the museum authority, said upgrading the website to digital accessibility standards reflects the museum's keenness to keep pace with the Egyptian state's push toward digital transformation and to provide advanced cultural and digital services that ensure easy access to information and services for all segments of society, especially people with disabilities, supporting the museum's efforts to promote inclusion and make Egypt's cultural heritage accessible to all.
For her part, Fayrouz Fikry, Deputy CEO for Administration and Operations, said upgrading the website is an important step toward improving the visitor experience and making the museum's content and digital services easier to access. She noted that the official website is the main gateway to the museum's information and services, including booking visit tickets and guided tours, and that adding digital accessibility features helps people with disabilities use these services more easily and independently.
