PHOTO ESSAY: Making Italy's art accessible to people with disabilities

ROME (AP) — Italy's art-filled cities have no shortage of tourists, but they haven’t always been welcoming to visitors with visual impairments or other disabilities.

Art that is millennia old doesn’t always lend itself to being touched. People who use wheelchairs often find elevators and doorways that are too narrow, stairs without ramps and uneven pavements.

In 2021, as a condition of receiving European Union pandemic recovery funds, Italy accelerated its accessibility initiatives, dedicating more attention and resources to removing architectural barriers and making its tourist sites and sporting venues more accessible.

The huge archaeological site at Pompeii, for example, has installed a whole new system of signage to make it more accessible to blind and disabled people. The project uses braille signs, QR-coded audio guides, tactile models and bas-relief replicas of artifacts that have been excavated over the years.

The city of Florence, meanwhile, has produced a guide on the accessibility options at the Uffizi Gallery and its other museums, with detailed information on routes and requirements — including the presence of companions — for sites such as the Boboli Gardens, which because of their historic structures are not fully accessible.

In Rome and elsewhere, projects are offering tactile visits to ancient monuments, allowing blind people to touch exhibits that would normally only be looked at.

An inclusive tourism model doesn’t just recognize the human rights of people with disabilities, it also makes economic sense. Nearly half of the world’s population aged over 60 has a disability, and disabled travelers tend to bring two or more companions, according to the World Tourism Organization.

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

Michela Marcato, left, who is blind, and her partially sighted partner Massimiliano Naccarato pose for a photo during a visit to the Colosseum in Rome, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Michela Marcato, left, who is blind, and her partially sighted partner Massimiliano Naccarato examine a scale model of the Colosseum with Giorgio Guardi, right, a guide in inclusive tourism, in Rome, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Michela Marcato, who is blind, runs her fingers over a tactile panel during a visit to the Colosseum in Rome, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Elena Dominici, who is blind, touches the Cancelleria fountain during an inclusive art tour in downtown Rome, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Francesca Inglese, who is blind, uses a tactile panel to experience the architecture of Palazzo Farnese during an inclusive art tour in downtown Rome, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Daria Portale, a guide with the Radici Association, uses a tactile panel so Enrico Sulli, right, who is blind, can experience the architecture of Palazzo Farnese during an inclusive art tour in downtown Rome, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Francesca Inglese, who is blind, touches a marble relief on the corner of a building during an inclusive art tour in downtown Rome, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Giorgio Guardi, center, a guide from the Radici Association, walks with participants during one of their inclusive art tours in central Rome, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Felice Tagliaferri, a blind sculptor, stands in his studio in Cesena, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Powder covers the hammers of Felice Tagliaferri, a blind sculptor, in his studio in Cesena, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Massimiliano Trubbiani, an expert in tactile education for blind and visually impaired people, works to transform Titian's Pala Gozzi into bas-relief in a laboratory at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Massimiliano Trubbiani, an expert in tactile education for blind and visually impaired people, works to transform Titian's Pala Gozzi into bas-relief in a laboratory at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A painting transformed into bas-relief is on display at the laboratory of tactile education at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A blindfolded student of an art high school touches a piece in the pavilion of contemporary art during a project on tactile experience at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Blindfolded students of an art high school enter the pavilion of contemporary art for a project on tactile experience at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A light worn on the hands of Stefania Terre, who is blind, streaks across a life-size reproduction of Michelangelo's La Pieta as she touches the sculpture while posing for a long-exposure photograph at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Stefania Terre, who is blind, touches a reproduction of St. Peter's Basilica at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Stefania Terre, left, and Carmine Laezza, far right, both blind, touch a reproduction of St. Peter's Basilica at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Stefania Terre, who is blind, touches a life-size reproduction of the head of Michelangelo's David during a visit to the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Stefania Terre, who is blind, uses a small light on her fingers while touching a life-size reproduction of the head of Michelangelo's David as she poses for a long-exposure photograph at the Omero Tactile Museum in Ancona, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee law has eased up on two longstanding financial hurdles for people with felony sentences who want their voting rights back, including a unique requirement among states that they must have fully paid their child support costs.

The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.

Advocates for years have sought various changes to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system at the statehouse and in court. They say loosening these two rules marks the biggest rollback of restrictions to voting rights restoration in decades.

“This is huge and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts led by formerly incarcerated women like her.

Most Republicans voted for it and Democrats supported it unanimously. The law took effect immediately upon Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature last week.

“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.

In 2023 and early 2024, the state decided that the system did require going to court or showing proof of a pardon, not just a paperwork process, and that gun rights were required to restore the right to vote. Election officials said a court ruling made the changes necessary, though voting rights advocates said officials misinterpreted the order.

Last year, lawmakers untangled voting and gun rights. But voting rights advocates opposed some of the bill's other provisions, such as keeping the process in the courts, where costs can rack up if someone isn't ruled indigent.

Easing up on the financial requirements uncommonly split legislative Republicans. For instance, Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren't getting forgiveness on making their payments.

“They need to continue paying that, and as long as they do, then there’s a possibility (to restore their voting rights)," Sexton said. "I really think that’s harder for people to argue against than maybe what something else was.”

Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett, who voted no, said in committee his vote would hinge on whether “there still can be an (child support) arrearage owed beyond that 12 months.”

For some, backed-up child support payments could reach hundreds or thousands of dollars, and court costs could be hundreds or thousands more, said Gicola Lane, Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote community partnership senior manager.

Advocates credited their narrowed focus, omitting goals such as automatic restoration of rights, no longer tying restitution payments to voting rights, or offering a path for certain people to restore their right who are permanently disenfranchised, including those convicted of voter fraud or most murder charges.

The bill passed the Senate last year and the House this year.

Lawmakers gave the child support requirement final passage in 2006 within an overhaul bill that also created a voting rights restoration process outside of court. Critics said the child support rule penalized impoverished parents.

Democrats were then narrowly hanging onto legislative leadership in both chambers. Republicans held a slim Senate majority but GOP defectors voted for a Democratic speaker.

Last year marked the dismissal of a nearly five-year-old federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s voting-rights restoration system. Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center represented plaintiffs in the long-delayed case, which saw some election policy changes along the way.

Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies and their offenses don't preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiffs expert’s 2023 estimate in the lawsuit. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court courts, restitution or both, the expert said.

Both Republican and Democratic-led states have eased the voting rights restoration process in recent years. Some states have added complexities.

In Florida, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions, the Republican-controlled Legislature watered that down by requiring payment of fines, fees and court costs.

Voting rights are automatically restored upon release in nearly half of states. In 15 others, it occurs after parole, probation or a similar period and sometimes requires paying outstanding court costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, people with felonies keep their voting rights in prison, the NCSL says.

Ten other states including Tennessee require additional government action. Virginia ’s governor must intervene to restore voting rights of people convicted of felonies. In some states, including Tennessee, certain conviction types render someone ineligible.

However, Virginia lawmakers this year have passed a proposed state constitutional amendment to ask voters whether they want automatic voting rights restoration after someone is released from prison. Kentucky lawmakers have proposed a similar change for voters' consideration that would automatically restore voting rights after certain completed sentences, including probation.

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)