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The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia offers guided tactile tours of its Signers’ Hall gallery aimed at blind and low-vision visitors, allowing them to experience the gallery’s statues through touch. The program is documented in an NPR photo and audio report by reporter Jonaki Mehta, published June 18, 2026.
Mehta’s report documents a tour led by museum educator Sydney Wharton. NPR photographer Rachel Wisniewski captured the visit, in which Wharton traced the hands of visitor Tim Kelly Jr. over the statue of Benjamin Franklin. Tim Kelly Jr. was accompanied on the tour by his father, Tim Kelly Sr., as she led them through the gallery.
The tactile tours are part of the National Constitution Center’s accessibility programming. The piece runs in NPR’s coverage of the country approaching its 250th anniversary, with the museum among the cultural institutions offering programming that makes its exhibits physically available to visitors who cannot see the displays.
The audio version of the report, read by Mehta, is available on NPR’s website.