Accessibility

Safe spaces and helpful staff make for a great visit.

The Bullock Texas State History Museum welcomes visitors to a comfortable, safe, and accessible space.

The Bullock Museum provides a variety of services to enhance your visit. Learn more about the Bullock Museum's accessibility accommodations below.

For questions or to make an accommodation request, please contact us at (512) 936-8746 or ContactUs@TheStoryofTexas.com at least 14 days prior to the date of your visit.

Accessible Design

The Bullock Museum strives to produce programs and exhibitions accessible to all visitors using principles of Universal Design and accessibility standards developed by the Smithsonian Institution, meeting or exceeding standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Museum received the first commendation for accessible design and construction from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), in conjunction with the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities (GCPD).

Parking

The Bullock Museum's underground parking garage is a convenient and accessible parking option available for visiting the Museum, the Texas Capitol Mall, the University of Texas campus, and the Blanton Museum. Designated and accessible parking spaces are located near the elevators on each level of the garage. Learn more about parking at the Bullock Museum.

Elevators and Flooring

Elevators connect the accessible underground parking garage to the Museum's ground-floor entrance on the Lone Star Plaza. Doors from the parking garage to the Plaza and designated entrance and exit doors to the Museum lobby and IMAX® Theatre are push-button activated.

All exhibitions and theater lobby areas are accessible by both elevators and stairs. Wheelchair accessibility to the IMAX Theatre is from the second floor. For assistance with theater doors, please speak to a host in the IMAX Theatre lobby.

Strollers and walkers move easily in the exhibition galleries.

Please Note: use caution in the second and third floor immersive environment areas. These areas are recreated environments with textured floor surfaces that simulate packed dirt from ranches and battlefields.

Wheelchairs and Service Animals

Wheelchairs are available for checkout at Ticketing and the Information Desk in the Museum's first floor lobby. There is no rental fee. We ask that you leave a valid photo ID or license until you return the wheelchair at the end of your visit.

The Bullock Museum complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and allows leashed or harnessed service animals to perform specific tasks for an individual with a disability. 

Restrooms and Water Fountains

Accessible restrooms are located on each floor of the Museum. A family restroom is located off the first-floor lobby. All restrooms are equipped with changing tables and wheelchair-accessible stalls and sinks.

Accessible water fountains are located throughout the Museum near the restrooms.

Lower Sensory Spaces

The Museum's Serenity Room, located near the restrooms at the back of the first-floor gallery, provides a lower sensory space to rest, nurse, or tend to your family in a quiet environment. The room includes private rooms and a common seating area.

Exhibitions

The Bullock Museum's exhibition galleries are all wheelchair accessible, and seating is available in various locations.

Note: The second and third floor immersive environments have textured floor surfaces.

Exhibition areas with audiovisual programs have open captioning or transcripts nearby. While there are no audio guides, there are interactive tactile and audio experiences in various spaces throughout the galleries.

The Bullock Museum's Texas History Galleries are fully bilingual in Spanish and English, and Gallery Guides in both languages are available on podiums throughout the Museum.

To make an accommodation request, please contact us at (512) 936-8746 or ContactUs@TheStoryofTexas.com at least 14 days prior to your visit. Visitors are welcome to bring their own professional interpreter to explore the exhibitions. The interpreter’s exhibition admission will be complimentary.

Tours

The Bullock Museum only offers guided tours upon special request. Tours must be booked at least 14 days in advance. To make a request, please contact us at (512) 936-8746 or ContactUs@TheStoryofTexas.com.

IMAX Theatre and Texas Spirit Theater

The IMAX Theatre and the Texas Spirit Theater are both accessible to wheelchairs from the second floor.

Dolby® CaptiView captioning and Dolby® Fidelio accessibility devices may be available on some IMAX Theatre and Texas Spirit Theater films.

  • Dolby Fidelio is a wireless audio system that delivers descriptive narration and/or amplified sound.
  • Dolby CaptiView is a personal in-theatre closed captioning system.

Rear Window® captioning may be available for The Star of Destiny and Shipwrecked films in the Texas Spirit Theater.

Visitors may check availability and request captioning or listening devices at theater entrances. 

Note: The Texas Spirit Theater offers a multisensory experience and contains sequences of flashing lights that may affect visitors with photosensitive epilepsy or other photo sensitivities.

Programs

The Bullock Museum offers a calendar of programs for all ages and interests throughout the year. Programs are held onsite in the Museum's accessible spaces and include community gatherings with interactive and tactile experiences, storytimes and activities for young children, film screenings, lectures, and discussions, shows and musical performances, and more.

To request an accommodation for one of our programs, please contact us at (512) 936-8746 or ContactUs@TheStoryofTexas.com at least 14 days prior to the program. Visitors are welcome to bring their own professional interpreter to a program free of charge. 

Website Accessibility Aids: Plug-ins and File Viewers

All applets, plug-ins, or applications required in order to view content on our webpages can be downloaded from the list of links below. The Bullock Museum does not endorse any of these products; they are listed below for the convenience of our users.  

  • Adobe Reader - Adobe Acrobat can be used to read PDF files. Download Adobe Reader
    Currently, our website contains documents in Adobe Acrobat PDF file format. Most PDF files will be accessible to those who use assistive technology such as screen readers. Some legacy or software-created PDF files may not be accessible. If you are experiencing difficulty reading any PDF files, please contact the Museum at (512) 936-8746 or ContactUs@thestoryoftexas.com, and we will be happy to send you an alternate version.
  • Unzip Utility - WinZip can be used to extract files from compressed .zip documents. Download WinZip