There is limited free parking on the National Mall. Mall parking is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Available spaces fill quickly, especially during the summer and over holidays. There are designated accessible spaces in front of the major museums; however, these are standard curb spaces on the left side of one-way streets.

There are accessible passenger loading zones in the following locations:

There are parking garages close to various museums in the Mall area. Those that have accessible parking spaces include:

If you would like to have a sign language, oral, or cued speech interpreter or Realtime captioning for an event, you should call at least two weeks in advance of the program you plan to attend. Call the organization sponsoring the program and tell the staff there what services you need. Be specific. For example, if you want an ASL interpreter rather than a PSE or Signed English interpreter, be sure to tell the staff that information. We do not have interpreters on our staff. We must hire them from agencies so need advance notice of requests.

If you want other accommodations, such as audio description, reader services, alternative formats of publications, assistive listening systems, or any other services, call the sponsoring organization and place your request at leasttwo weeks before the event.

Smithsonian museums and the Zoo have wheelchairs that can be borrowed, free of charge, for use within each facility. The wheelchairs, which are all manually operated, cannot be taken outside of the museum in which it is borrowed.

The wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis. To borrow a wheelchair, go to the museum's or the Zoo's information center or desk and request a loaner. They may help you directly or send you to the nearby Security Desk. You will be asked to leave identification until you return the wheelchair.

If you want to rent a wheelchair for all-day use between museums, we have a list of vendors in the area who can assist you. This list has been compiled from the Yellow Pages of the Washington phone book for your convenience. The list may not include all businesses that rent wheelchairs or reflect the current status of a business. Businesses listed are not endorsed or recommended by the Smithsonian Institution.

All the businesses listed will deliver to and pick up from your hotel or residence.

The Accessibility Program's Voices to Access 2000 project audio tapes Smithsonian publications for use by people who cannot use standard print due to disability. To get a list of available publications or to request a specific Smithsonian publication for recording, call 202/786-2942 (voice) or 202/786-2414 (TTY).

Other publications, including exhibit scripts, are available in braille, in large print, and on disk. Call the organization responsible for the publication to find out what formats are available. If you don't know the name of the organization, call the Accessibility Program at the numbers listed above.