Overview Expand The field of access is changing all the time, in line with developments in how we use technology, and our evolving expectations and experiences of art and culture. In cinemas for example, more people are able to use glasses which show captions within them, rather than having to wait until a subtitled screening time, which is often at an inconvenient or unsociable hour. Gaming and interactive tools have become a greater feature of artistic works than before, and the shutdown of venues during the pandemic changed many people’s habits and behaviours. Some venues are adapting their programmes to build back audience numbers, and while there is a risk that things may return to inaccessible models from the past, it might also prove to be fertile ground for new collaborations, where works with embedded access are appreciated in ways they were not before.
Planning: identify the barriers Expand Consider the development of your project like a user journey. This is a technique commonly used in marketing and the development of services such as websites. Reflect on how an audience member or user might work or engage with the final outcome, and the various elements along this journey. Identify possible barriers they might face. This can be simpler and more effective than starting with a list of health issues and/or impairments and trying to map these against your project plans. You will need to identify which barriers apply to: your team (internal) your audience/users (external) These are likely to be different areas, involving different budget lines and resources. Considering barriers rather than impairments is an approach that works to the Social Model of Disability. Find out more about the Social Model What might the barriers be? Commonly identified barriers faced by both internal and external groups centre on: Team collaboration methods Team and partners relationship(s) Event logistics Event marketing (e.g. reaching target audiences, ticketing, and websites) Location practicalities (getting there, facilities, parking) Audience experience (interpretive tools, physical access, atmosphere, welcome, and inclusivity) Feedback and quality assessment Responsibility for public access in a host venue will need to be discussed with them, to clarify approaches, cost, and what the venue provides already, or wishes to build on. This will be covered in our audience access resource. Innovative or experimental approaches to access are explored in our access as a creative tool resource.
What do we mean by 'embedded access'? Expand Although there is no single 'standard' or method for access provision that venues and creatives work to, there are recognised areas of best practice. This can include: booking access support workers with suitable skills or qualifications working to professional standards in the way that access is managed and devised for a particular setting (with regard to building controls and regulated uses of public space) For the purposes of this resource, we can think of 'standard' access as the minimum access facilitation provided in response to the content of a work or event. When working with venues, it is likely some access provisions will already be available or in place, but this will vary according to location and event type. This does not mean that access is freely available everywhere or that you can alway rely on external partners to know in advance what best practice might be. Usually, access provision is only selectively available. By comparison, embedded access is a more proactive and pre-planned form of access provision, which considers the audience experience right from the concept stage or outset of the planning for a work or event. Embedding access into a performance or exhibition is about ensuring that the adjustments provided are not tokenistic (meaning they are only basic, added last-minute, or functionally unhelpful despite the appearance of support). Tokenistic access is often added in at the end of the planning process, meaning there is little time or budget left to make it work as well as it could have done if more consideration had been made earlier on to ensure the experience is seamless for your audience. It may even be woven or merged with the artistic purpose or vision so that the art and access are inseparable. In this case, rather than there being a 'core' or 'original' work from which accessible 'versions' are derived or created, the work itself has been made to be accessible throughout. For example, rather than creating a transcript for a film once it is complete, you might consider integrating captions - creative or otherwise - into the film itself (although having both is rarely a bad idea!). However, there may still be reasons for setting the work in a different environment to cater for different audience needs. An artwork or event which may be fully accessible for one community may still require some element of mediation to be accessible to others. You may also discover that some people's access needs are in conflict with other's, and it's worthwhile considering how to programme and plan around this to offer options for as many audiences as possible.
People: roles and responsibilities Expand People are the most essential element of any project. The team involved are integral to its success. Catering for the team's access needs will inform your choices around elements such as logistics and communications: this will form the project's foundations. Identifying roles is essential to ensuring your project runs smoothly and people know what their responsibilities are. At the planning stage, it is important to identify where access support comes into this. For example: you may be the lead artist working with a producer. You might require access support with managing your diary, organising meetings, keeping records and notes, or assistance with travel. Two things need doing here: 1. Establish your PA/access worker's role and look at whether this is to be funded within the project or by an external source such as Access to Work. 2. Define the producer's role, which likely includes various kinds of organising. This makes it clear which duties and responsibilities are your own and which are the producer's. The tasks that are your responsibility and require support from an access worker need to be defined and provided to the access worker in the form of a job description. Find out more about Access to Work
Access curation Expand Any form of access used to widen or deepen engagement with an artwork should be well thought out in order to minimise segregation of your audience, which can have the counterproductive impact of making people feel uninvolved or excluded. All forms of access can be thought of as an element of the overall curation that works to enhance the artistic experience from the viewpoint of its audience. In practice, we know this is not usually the case. However, in galleries in particular, the access and public facing teams are often left to work out how to manage accessibility for an event or exhibition because those responsible for the planning - curators or production teams - might not have considered it in advance. This can worsen the experience for both audiences who feel disregarded and staff who aren't confident in how best to support visitors. The process of embedding access does not assume that a venue has sole responsibility over ensuring events are accessible for audiences. Instead, embedded access might be the result of collaboration, co-production, or commission which involves extensive consideration of the audience experience as well as the aesthetic and artistic intentions of the artist. As more and more creative projects blur the lines between making and consuming art and cultural experiences, using access as a creative tool can allow artists and practitioners to combine what makes certain works accessible and what defines them as creative experiences.
What access support is available? Expand While Access to Work funding can make a huge difference to your career, qualifying for it, even when eligible, can take time. Some artists find that they depend on what access support the funder is available to provide upfront - for example, to complete the grant application itself - while they are waiting for Access to Work to confirm other support. This means you may need to factor in additional access support in your budget, ahead of knowing the outcome of your Access to Work application. All you can do is work with the situation as it is and follow up with your Access to Work application in order to avoid jeopardising your chances of receiving it now or in the future. This is because, if you receive support through Access to Work, the funds are restricted to your personal support costs, rather than those of the project. Other forms of access support for your team may come in the form of tweaks, amends, and flexibility - known as adjustments. For example, arranging meeting times to suit a team member who has difficulty concentrating at particular times of the day, or using a tool for communication that is accessible for all team members. As with your project tracking tools, certain communication platforms such as Zoom, Slack, or Discord can provide alternative ways of meeting and sharing information that might be more accessible than relying exclusively on text-based systems such as email. Access support workers are people who take on the responsibilities and duties that present barriers to the disabled person working on the project, functioning as support for their role. What these duties are will depend on the disabled person's role in the project and the barriers they anticipate facing. The support worker will be selected for the job according to their skills and experience. For some areas, they may need certain qualifications or to have passed particular checks, particularly if their role entails any personal care or support. Other roles where the support worker might need specific skills include communication support, such as speech to text reporting or sign language interpretation. If the access needs of the team are known, then barriers can be identified through discussion, and adjustments and provisions put in place before the project gets underway. The resources you need to do this may be external, like funding from Access to Work or elsewhere, but barriers might not always require funding to navigate, instead requiring a certain atmosphere or working relationship in order to best suit individual needs. It can be useful for yourself and your team to keep a record of individual access needs through the creation of Access Riders. Don't forget that the focus is on what support they require in order to do their job. Find out more about Access Riders It's important to remember that access needs can fluctuate. You should encourage honesty and openness while discussing the barriers you and your team face in order to best plan to support one another. Some people may have had negative experiences when disclosing their access needs in the past, possibly because their needs were misunderstood or the information held against them. You should bear this in mind and ensure discussions around individual access needs are sensitively handled. You will need to obtain their consent to hold personal information and keep it somewhere secure.
Individual or community? Expand There may be times when your commissioning opportunity is designed to reach a particular impairment group or community with a common link around barriers they face. This might be to broaden or diversify your organisation or programme, or to build on an existing framework of confidence and experience in your provision for disabled people. Valuable time and resources can be saved, and misunderstandings avoided, if that particular community has the opportunity to inform what ‘good’ looks like in terms of support. For example, your organisation may have gained confidence and raised its ambitions around working with deaf communities, and now wishes to commission a deaf artist to lead on a series of engagements with that community. This can be done through informal meetings or focus group-type research, or working with a deaf-led company as a partner. The latter approach, often thought of as a co-production approach, can yield numerous benefits, and removes the reliance on you having to work out for yourself the best route through, having canvassed a variety of viewpoints. This kind of discussion can also help you to determine your project’s legacy, so that the same community is not left hanging after the event is over. Disabled artists rightly have concerns that these kinds of processes serve a limited purpose, after which the artist is jettisoned and the community they are a part of no longer has a meaningful link to the venue or agency concerned. While it is true that no venue would be expected to endlessly re-commission the same artist or re-run the same project, thought should be given early on as to how to build on learnings or success in a meaningful rather than a tokenistic way. For example, artists might become associates of your venue or programme, continuing to provide input on selection panels or programming. Any access working party the venue draws ideas and information from could benefit from that community’s representation in the future.
People: communication Expand Good communication is essential to ensure your project runs smoothly and has the best chance of success. Taking the time to research accessible formats to match the communication requirements of the team will enable regular meetings and sharing of information to take place with fewer obstacles. Including review points to check on how the individual team members are progressing (as well as how well their tasks are progressing) can be a useful way of managing issues that often lie beneath the surface. Such issues can cause problems if left unattended or ignored. Giving people the opportunity to ask for support, extra time, clarification, or alternative working methods can add to the creative dynamic which drives the team and gels you together. When recruiting your team, asking how people usually manage their time, deadlines and pressure can be as useful as checking on access needs. This is because not everyone may be aware of the demands of the project at the beginning, and so may not feel a need to disclose certain things that are useful to know. Usually, people will have preferences about the way they have been managing their support needs in the past, and this insight can be valuable because it gives you an idea of what choices are available to ensure good team working. At a time when many people are using remote conferencing for meetings, it will also be important to use accessible tech tools. Zoom is a well known platform that is free to use for limited time sessions. Recordings can be made for those who prefer to recap or can't attend with the rest of the team and need to catch up later. You can add captions through services such as Otter.Ai and change the viewing set up to make it easier to view access support workers such as BSL interpreters. The more features you use, the more likely it is that you have to pay for the service, so do factor this into your access budget.
The information gap Expand What makes access ‘good’ may be thought of like a referee of a sports match: it is there to make the activity work, but the referee is not the focus of the match. Consideration will need to go into whether the ‘creative access’ elements you may be planning are at risk with competing with the work, or acting as a distraction, when the aim is to enhance the aesthetic experience. It can help to start the planning process by thinking of access as information. For example, for a deaf BSL user attending a screening or performance, the information they are missing is the dialogue - the spoken parts. A sign language interpreter therefore has the role of conveying this information to bridge the gap. In the case of a blind or partially sighted person, an audio describer can bridge the information gap by describing movements or changes to a setting that are not conveyed through sound or dialogue. By considering access as information, it becomes easier to consider where these gaps might arise and for whom they have an impact. Below are some examples of access curation in practice: If we were devising a performance piece with the intention of making it accessible to both deaf and blind/partially sighted audiences, then in considering how to bridge the information gaps, we could explore options to embed audio description, captioning, and signing. If the piece worked to a fixed script, then pre-recorded sign language interpretation and captions could appear in certain settings via projections. This could be done in a discrete way to match the style, era, or other aspect of the setting, or imaginatively, for example, with characters carrying small projectors with them that fire against walls or hangings as they move around the set. Alternatively the piece might be devised to include a BSL signer in the cast so that signed dialogue is inbuilt throughout. While audio description could be conveyed in a conventional way, through earpieces to those opting to use them, it’s also possible that conveying the features of a setting or key movements and changes could be embedded into dialogue or a soundtrack. The writer or dramaturge, as they begin to consider these approaches, may find themselves opting for a multi-access embedded result - or they may favour one route as the embedded route, and leave other access options to be included through discussion with the venue. It often depends on how seamlessly aspects of access can be embedded so as not to distract or overwhelm your audience or find alternative formats competing with the work itself. A blind artist devising an exhibition might have as their starting point the intention of displacing the visual, and promoting the experience of touch or sound. In factoring in the audience experience, they may wish to elevate the experience of visitors with a visual impairment, and the resulting show will be, for that particular community, accessible in a way that other exhibitions may not be. Addressing the access needs of people outside of that impairment group may then depend on their experience in this area, or on discussions with the host gallery or other collaborators. The issue of embedding access may often be about addressing existing curatorial rules or practice. For example, an artist might be casting a sculpture for a particular space where sounds travels well. The existing expectation may be that such a work is to be isolated in some way, but the artist may view this as an opportunity for a work to be both touched and even struck in a way that generates sound. On this basis, the work becomes accessible to wider groups of people who may have impairments, yet we know that these experiences may be different to one another and are not 100% translatable or interchangeable with another. For a deaf person, they may see, touch, and feel the reverberation of the struck work. For a blind or partially sighted person, they may touch and hear the work being struck, and to some degree be able to view it in the space, or wish to listen to descriptions of its appearance. Neither impairment group has the exact same experience of the work, yet it is clear that we are in a very different and much more highly engaged scenario than if the work was to be seen alone and kept slightly apart for the purposes of making room for people to circulate around it. If we then factor in accessible tours, and accessible formats for discussing the work or having a conversation with the artist, and then broadcasting some or all of this in accessible formats, then the potential for increased numbers of people to appreciate the work, and with deep levels of engagement, are high. [Include links to other resources for general further reading, both Shape and external] Once these approaches and ideas are noted, then the next step is to consider to what degree these approaches enhance the artistic aims of the artist or writer. Disabled creatives may well have an advantage here in bringing in their own lived experience to inform these decisions.
Systems to support planning Expand Systems can mean tools such as software and ways of organising information. An effective project relies not only on a good team working together but on having the tools in place to track and monitor your progress. Choosing the right systems can help with all these tasks and keep you on top of everything. If your team is spread out across locations, or working remotely, then digital systems will be central. Some questions to consider are: Do you have the right systems in place to do the jobs you need to do? For example, you may wish to use spreadsheets to monitor your budget and spending, but use a more flexible system to keep track of what tasks are complete or in progress. Software like Open Office contains free spreadsheet, presentation and word processing documents which work on most computer systems. Some tools, such as Trello, allow team members to keep lists tracking their work that use visual and audio content as well as text. These platforms are free to use (at the time of writing) but may charge for certain services or features. The same applies for software like Discord and Slack. Many people find Google Docs have good levels of accessibility, and with a Google account this opens up use of folder sharing and storage through Google Drive as well as virtual hangouts and calendar and email integration. Tapping into your team's creativity when organising your project can be a great way to make the most of the experience. Using systems that allow for everyone to contribute, no matter what format or media they prefer, supports this well. Above all, it supports the flow of ideas and communication. Are all these systems accessible to all the team? You may be fortunate in all your team being able to use the same tools, but sometimes this will not be the case. For example, the person tracking the budget may find spreadsheets accessible while other team members may not. When the team's access needs are known from the outset, it should be easier to create workarounds that ensure everyone is informed and supported, therefore able to do their tasks and support the wider team. In the case of spreadsheets, there is flexibility to redesign them with access needs and barriers in mind, but you may also prefer to visually represent the data through things like charts and infographics, or simply to talk through the material in conversation. It's all about what works for your team, so the right people have the right information at the right time.
Recruitment phase Expand Planning the artist’s route through the project, from selection to the execution of the work, will help you set out an accessible foundation for them. It will mean it is less likely that you will be reacting to events, and instead using your resources and energy to guide their course - as you would usually expect to do. Getting your recruitment or selection right is critical to the success of the commission. The commission should be founded on the quality of the resulting work or contribution, and to ensure this, the recruitment process should have the usual rigour to it. Part of this involves requiring the artist to have a certain amount of skill or experience. The main caveat we suggest you consider here is: Whether you are setting the bar at an appropriate level for disabled artistsor Or whether this is ruling out people who, with a certain amount of support, could deliver the commission equally as well, or better In particular, if you are running the commission in part to scout new and emerging talent, then some flexibility here can be rewarding for all concerned. The reason to say this is that there is a lack of high quality and accessible opportunities for disabled artists, giving them much less of a chance to broaden and deepen their experience. Disabled artists often find that their career starts to stall very early, when they come up against barriers to entry (finding a studio, financial issues, dealing with applications and processes), and end up applying for opportunities at a certain grade or level many years later than their non-disabled peers. In addition to this, it is important to ensure your call out is accessible to disabled candidates and that you provide comprehensive information phrased to encourage disabled artists to apply. Providing a range of application formats will reach people for whom purely text based documentation is inaccessible. Consider including visual material and audio versions of your documents, for example. Because of the reasons given above, many disabled artists may be apprehensive about applying, fearing they lack the talent or experience required, or they may not be clear on what the commission involves them doing, or if support is provided. Check out our Ways of Seeing resource Simple steps can include providing a contact number or email address offering support with an application. Using welcoming language that is clear in its intentions, around targeting disabled candidates. Also, consider ways that you could break information down regarding the commission, and allow for people to ask questions. For example, disabled people receiving benefits may have concerns about how commission payments might work alongside this. Apart from offering support with an application, you could run a session where access support is provided and someone in your team goes through what the commission involves and answers questions from potential candidates directly. It could be recorded in a way that benefits those unable to attend in person. There can be hidden benefits to doing this, in terms of understanding how clear your messaging is. Also, the questions you are asked at such an early stage, and by people who might be unfamiliar with you and your work, can be very instructive about areas of planning you may not have thought of previously. Learn about arranging accessible interviews and meetings Any application process can take time and be demanding for an individual, requiring some people to give up precious time and energy they might devote to other important areas. With no guarantee of success, this can be daunting for disabled people considering making any kind of application. One approach that is more supportive is to invite applications from a pool of candidates, and provide them with a fee to take account of their time, while offering them support and advice while they work up a proposal. The advantage of this is that it may introduce you to a variety of new artistic talent without the (often anonymous) admin process involved in a standard call out. Rather than all the focus being on one individual who may win the commission, it can help to connect you to a wider range of artists, and vice versa. There is a better risk and reward dynamic involved, and an opportunity for less experienced artists to gain valuable experience in creating a proposal that may help them in other areas, where they are applying for funding or describing their work to others. It may encourage them to apply where often they may not do so. If you plan things on a flexible basis, remember: this itself is a form of access support.
Checking on access needs Expand Even if you are asking people to identify as disabled in order to qualify for your scheme, it is their access needs in relation to the task at hand that is the focus of the access support. There is no point in asking if someone identifies as disabled and then not following up on it; equally you cannot assume you know someone’s access needs just because they identify themselves as disabled. Access support might include: Support developing and submitting an application Interview-stage access support such as live captions, BSL interpretation, or questions provided in advance Opportunities to familiarise themselves with the space and the team involved The more applicants know which actual processes are involved in the commission, the more straightforward they can be about discussing their access support needs. Successful applicants could also be asked to complete an access rider. If they are not used to this kind of form already, it can help them to identify their support needs in a structured way. Again, the support should be focused on the task or need at hand, rather than to make generalised statements which can be open to interpretation and may not be relevant for your project. It is also a way to avoid asking invasive personal questions about someone’s health: the focus is on support, not working out how someone’s mind and body works. Find out more about Access Riders In planning your access budget, consider the full cycle of the project and to what degree the artist may be involved in public-facing activities. As this is also an area where access support may be needed. Access support can come in a number of forms, and some of this may be delivered by people with specific skills sets or qualifications (for example sign language interpreters or PAs,) who usually charge at rates in line with their experience. The artist in question may have an existing person or people who provide them with support, or they may not. They may have some form of external funding in place to pay for such support (like Access to Work) or they may not. Artists may have preferences about the kind of support they receive. The key is to ask the questions without making prior assumptions. Open and honest discussions about this are not just useful, but essential to ensure a smooth path ahead. Check out our resource on developing an accessible project for some practical tips and suggestions: Developing an accessible project resource Some artists may have reason (based on previous negative experiences) to be hesitant about asking for support or guidance, and in some cases even fully disclosing their access needs. One way to standardise this process and prevent things slipping through the cracks, is to build an access support check into any review points or milestone meetings. This can be an opportunity to check in on any wider issues that might get overlooked when people are busy on the project. Having a main contact who oversees the relationship can be helpful to build in consistency. Again, thinking about how this is communicated, what budget do you have for access provision and do you know what kinds of access provision might be used by the people you are targeting? Consider how the process can be streamlined to achieve the same results. You may find that following it, you end up streamlining all your recruitment processes of this kind, no matter who you are targeting.
Disclosure Expand The process above outlines where people may need support along the project’s critical path. It is always better that the disabled person proposes the kind of support they need, and this is likely to be based on what has worked for them in the past. Earlier, we looked at the option of the access rider, which disabled applicants might find useful as a prompt to list access needs relating to the commission. You may find this useful as a way of keeping a record or note of what provision should be in place. Your budget will impose certain limits on what access provision is available and so as part of the streamlining process, look for win-wins and ways of making your access budget stretch further - and discuss them with the artist, of course. For example, if paying for the services of a support worker on a particular day, is it possible (without being counterproductive to anyone’s wellbeing) to group meetings or sessions together on that day, to prevent having to pay for a series of individual bookings, which are likely to be higher, when call-out and travel costs are factored in? Overall, the more planning is in hand, the easier it will be to identify opportunities to make the access budget stretch further. Over a period of time, you may find that one project incurs low access costs and in the next project these costs are much higher. Building in contingency funding for access in each project can help with unforeseen or escalated expenses.
Suggested steps Expand 1. Consider why the commission is taking place, and the sought-for benefits or outcomes for you and the disabled artist. What is the basis of the commission, and how will you frame your messaging in the recruitment and delivery phases to avoid common pitfalls around stereotyping? 2. Consult with disabled people/disability-led groups to inform yourself where you have knowledge gaps. The artist should be asked to identify their support needs and it is these needs that are to be addressed. Merely asking someone if they are disabled and then guessing or assuming what their access needs will cause problems. Equally, don’t expect the commissioned artist to know everything that you do not, or act as a consultant when they are principally a creative leading on a project. Identify the commission’s critical path and at what steps along it might an individual require access support, and in what form might this be provided. Support with completing an application may involve a very different kind of skill or input compared to communication support at meetings and events. Consider the different phases and what the artist is expected to do - what kind of facilities might they need and how much travel might be involved? How much of the process can be streamlined and can this feed back into streamlining the way you commission more generally? Build access costs into your budget on an informed basis - the panning above will help with this. Not sure what these costs might be? Revert to Point 2. Linking to Point 1, consider the commission’s legacy and how you might build on the results of the commission in terms of learning and confidence. While you should not expect the artist to haul in new audiences by virtue of their disabled identity, it may be that audiences you previously found hard to reach or did not have connection with at all, responded to the artist and their work. Monitoring audience responses in an accessible and imaginative way can provide key insights into ensuring these audiences return, combined with programming relevant to their interests of course. Every commission will have its high and lows on its way to bringing something new into the world. Using the commissioning process to try out new things, experiment, and take risks is likely to be integral to the way you work as a commissioner, or creative entity. Commissioning a disabled artist ought to be just the same process of blended excitement, creativity and planning, with support put in place as appropriate to keep things running smoothly. By taking a few additional planning steps and being prepared to ask the right questions, have an honest conversation here and there, the ‘risk’ element can remain centred in the work and its creative impact, not in the way you are delivering it. Interested in knowing more about the artists Shape supports? Browse our artist profiles Want to find out about the commissions and projects we've worked on before? Check out Shape's commissions Uncertain about starting out? Contact us to find out how we might be able to support you with consultancy and training. Email [email protected]
Promoting choice Expand The underlying philosophy of using access as a creative tool is that by providing options for your audience, regardless of impairment or status, you are, in turn, promoting their ability to choose for themselves. The Social Model of Disability states that it is not an individual's impairment that disables them but rather the built and social environment around them - in other words, it is other people who disable us through their attitudes, prejudice, or lack of consideration. By approaching accessibility in the arts with an open mind, honest outlook, and willingness to adapt, you are not only increasing the potential audience size and engagement of your project, but you are embedding a positive and affirming attitude around disability more broadly. You can think of autonomy - a person's capacity to make decisions for themselves - as a cornerstone of best practice when it comes to accessibility. You should aim to avoid segregating or sidelining accessible formats or accessible performances so as not to further push away a marginalised community. Choice is the goal, and you should consider from the outset of your work how you might provide options for individuals - whether disabled or not - to engage with your project in a way most comfortable and meaningful for them.
The venue Expand You might be in a fortunate position and able to pick a venue for your exhibition. However, we're aware that sometimes this isn't the case. The guidance below offers suggestions for improvements to access even when you don't have a choice about where you're working. How should I choose a venue? Before you get into the specifics of your exhibition, there are some important things to consider about the place you're working in that can have a huge impact on the success of your access provision. It might be helpful to consider: Where is it? Is it accessible by various forms of transport? Is it step-free? How will people enter the space? What access provisions are already in place? And what can be changed to improve access for your audiences? Does the venue have disability awareness? Physical accessibility in the venue Step one - step-free! Where possible, we encourage people to opt for venues with step-free access. This not only benefits wheelchair users, but also welcomes people who might be bringing children in prams or people with low mobility. Remember: Even small steps into a space are not step-free. Be sure to check your venue for small steps and uneven ground. If there is a ramp, does it comply with current regulations? Ideally the entire venue is step-free and has the same entrance for all visitors, rather than an alternative step-free entrance that brings you to the exhibition via an alternative route. Lifts and doors - what should I consider? Lifts - especially if your exhibition is split over more than one floor in a building Is there a lift available? And is it reliable? Can the lift be independently operated? Or does it need a member of staff to be used? How big is the lift? Can it comfortably fit in a wheelchair with additional space? Can the lift be used during an emergency evacuation? Doors and entrances Are heavy doors automated? Or can they be propped open? Be aware of any fire doors and emergency procedures. Does the entrance require you to use an intercom? Try and offer an alternative way to enter for hearing impaired people such as a number to text for entry. Is the accessible entrance round the back or hidden away? Make sure this is clearly signposted. Ideally all visitors will have access to the same entrance and visitor journey through the space. Think about seating! Having seating available in your exhibition is a great way to encourage people to stay and enjoy what you have created. Some venues might already have seating built-in or available to move around the space. Check whats available! But what seating is recommended and what can you do when there isn't anything at the venue already? Can you design seating as part of the exhibition? Does some seating offer cushions and back support? Is there another venue you might be able to borrow seating from? Rather than buying brand new? Can seating be moved around the space or are they stuck in place? Consider how wheelchair users might experience work if there is fixed seating blocking their experience. You might want to consider arranging benches in front of video works slightly off-centre to allow more inclusive space for wheelchair users to view the work. Is there enough space to move around? If you're filling up your exhibition space with lots of work and installations, remember to consider the journey people take through the space. Can a wheelchair fit or other mobility aids fit? Are there areas where it can get particularly crowded? We recommend taking a tape measure with you and ensuring large wheelchairs are able to comfortably navigate through the space. Ideally, once your exhibition is installed, there should be at least 1.3m between objects on the floor like sculptures, plinths, and furniture. It makes for a more relaxed experience, and with more space, the artworks are more protected! What might impact the senses? As well as physical access in the space, its important to remember different elements that can affect the senses. This is particularly important to consider for neurodivergent audiences and migraineurs who can experience barriers in spaces with strong lights, smells and sounds. If you're looking to specifically cater to these impairment groups, you can check out our additional resources What is Neurodiversity? and Make Inclusive Arts Events For Migraineurs Is your venue in a busy location? Does the nearby noise bleed into the space? You might be able to offer ear defenders or noise cancelling headphones for people as they enter. What lighting is available in the space and can it be changed? You might want a particular lighting style for the work, but having options is great if you're able to alter this. Is there a quiet space available? Quiet spaces - also known as rest spaces - are a great way to offer a place to recharge, decompress and process the exhibition. Having the opportunity to rest in the venue creates a more inclusive environment for visitors, particularly those with chronic fatigue. Some venues might have a space suitable and readily available. If you are curious about creating a quiet space on a low-budget and on the move, Unlimited have created a brilliant guide with top tips. Check out their detailed resource on their website. What toilet facilities should be available? As well as being step-free, we suggest opting for a venue that has their own accessible toilet. If you don't have direct access to one, we recommend checking out the local area in case there is one nearby you can signpost people towards. Accessible toilets are more than meets the eye – they need to accommodate the wheelchair user, a portable hoist and a PA, with a red alarm cord working, reaching the floor, and next to the toilet. In the 2024 Euan's Guide Survey, 77% of respondents have avoided going somewhere because they couldn’t find information about an accessible toilet. You can read the full survey results on their website. Have you heard of Changing Places toilets? These are larger accessible toilets with additional hoists and facilities to support disabled people with additional needs. With a radar key you have access to these toilets - but we recommend checking the website before venturing out and about! At the time of publishing (2025), there are 2,606 registered Changing Places toilets across the UK. Find your nearest one on their website. What about assistance dogs? Its important to make sure you can also welcome assistance dogs into the space. Assistance dogs can be a vital support for disabled people, and being able to welcome in your four-legged visitors too makes for an even better experience. Make sure you have water bowels available Is there somewhere nearby where dogs can relieve themselves? Make sure your staff are aware of this in case someone asks What assistive technology is available on site? Check at the venue in case they offer assistive tools and have the technology on hand. This can be an expensive cost, particularly if you're looking to hire such equipment - but if its already available, why not make use of it! Hearing loops - ensure they are clearly signposted in the venue Audio guides - some museums and galleries have their own handsets preprogrammed with audio guides and descriptions If you don't have these tools available, you might consider creating QR codes for visitors to scan and access content in a way they prefer on their own devices. You could also borrow some headphones and an MP3 player from a friend and load up your audio tour! Where is the venue? How can people find the exhibition? We've spoken a lot about access once you're at the venue, but don't forget that the journey to your exhibition is just as important! Being able to have information on hand and readily available so people can plan their journey is really helpful. Consider the following: How easy is it to find the venue? What information can you share for visitors planning their journey? Is it close to public transport? Are there secure places to lock a bicycle? How visible is the venue from the street? Do you need clear signage to guide people? It might also be useful to mention quieter times to visit your exhibition, particularly if its in a busy area or travel connections can get congested. Staff and volunteers at the venue In addition to ensuring your venue is accessible, make sure you are aware of who will be on hand to manage the venue and invigilate the exhibition. Are there staff on hand at the venue who are familiar with emergency evacuation procedures? Does your team have disability awareness? How might you be able to remove attitudinal barriers in the venue? Looking for Disability Equality Training for your team? Check out all our training and auditing services available or drop us an email at [email protected]
Presenting work Expand If you're happy with the venue for your exhibition, it's time to start planning the ways you will show artwork - and how you can do this accessibly. You might be exhibiting ready-made work, in which case a lot of the work you can do to improve accessibility is about providing multiple options for engagement with the art, like captions, audio description, or tactile models. If you're running an open call or commissioning new work, you can begin to integrate access as a creative tool and think about how your curatorial choices may be informed by your plan to increase accessibility. For example, you might integrate creative captions to a video work, or commission a sculpture that is designed to be touched. Technical guidelines Much of planning an exhibition comes down to what fits where. This is a good moment to take a pause and consider how you can think about accessibility as a factor in these decisions. There are some guidelines that offer practical steer. If you're hanging work on the wall - this might be a 2D painting in a frame or a sculpture composed of multiple parts - aim to position it so that the centre of the artwork is 135cm off of the floor. In a similar way, you might be constructing plinths to display artwork. If you have control over the size of plinths you're using, try to make them no taller than 80cm. Of course, you might only have ready-made plinths available. We'd always recommend choosing the plinths - or any free-standing platform for showing work, like tables or stools - that are as close to 80cm in height as possible. The only time you should opt for a shorter platform is if the work itself is very tall. If you're accompanying an artwork on the wall with a label - this might tell people who made it, what it's called, or what it's made from - we suggest hanging or sticking these at 110cm from the floor. As important as it is to hang artwork at an accessible height, you've also got to consider the layout of the room or space you're exhibiting within. If you've got floor work and furniture like benches or chairs, you need to plan carefully to make sure there's enough room for people to move about the space, particularly wheelchair users. With this in mind, you should factor in 1.3m between objects on the floor to make sure people can comfortably navigate the exhibition without putting themselves or the artworks at risk. Audio description Offering the audience audio descriptions of your artwork can be a great tool for making the exhibition more accessible for visually impaired audiences. But you'll also find that audio description is a popular method of engagement for a much wider audience, too. It can make people think about elements or themes within an artwork that they might have missed otherwise. There's lots of great advice for how to write audio descriptions. We'd recommend Turf Project's Audio Description Tips for Artists resource. It's always worth road-testing your descriptions with others - particularly visually impaired people who can help you improve. We would always advise paying people for their time if you ask them to consult on improving accessibility. Another way you can use audio description to increase the accessibility of your exhibition is to offer tracks that describe the environment or exhibition layout as well as the works themselves. We did this for Abi Palmer's Slime Mother exhibition in 2024, check it out to get a feel for what you could do yourself. Once you've got your audio descriptions recorded, here's what we recommend: Compile your audio description tracks and upload them somewhere publicly accessible, like SoundCloud. This will allow you to structure the 'playlist' or 'album' in an order that makes sense: consider the sequence that people would encounter the works in the space, and follow that. It will also mean you can integrate any additional descriptions, such as describing the room that houses the exhibition, or a reading of your curatorial text. Plan and test the ways your audience can access the audio description. We would recommend having some basic MP3 players and headphones pre-loaded with your audio description tracks available for people on-site. Many people would prefer to use their own smartphone and headphones, or the ones you have available might be busy. To account for this, we recommend adding QR codes to your wall labels - you should clearly label them as linked to your audio description - allowing people to navigate there themselves. If people can't make it to the exhibition in person, consider making the audio descriptions available online for anyone to listen to. British Sign Language Over 150,000 people in the UK use British Sign Language (BSL). BSL is a different language to English, with a different structure. For many deaf people, BSL is their first language. This means that sometimes, captions and text might not be sufficient if you're aiming to make your exhibition accessible to everyone. We suggest providing BSL interpretation wherever you have text or spoken English play a significant role in your exhibition. This might include: A BSL translation of your curatorial or wall texts, as well as BSL catalogue Providing a BSL version of moving image works that contain spoken dialogue. If you're commissioning new moving image work, you might even consider integrating this into the artwork itself. Hiring BSL interpreters for your events and programmes. If you have an opening event or a panel discussion alongside your exhibition, we'd suggest finding a BSL interpreter so BSL users can enjoy what you're offering. We know that BSL interpretation can be expensive. It's also hard to secure interpreters at the last minute. It's always important to plan for time and budget to cater for this. If you're still writing a funding application, for example, make sure you include BSL provision within your budget. If you've got an interpreter and they're recording videos for the exhibition, the next step is figuring out the best way for audiences to find and engage with this material. With pre-recorded BSL, this might be in-vision, where the interpreter is green-screened into another video, or a stand-alone video that accompanies a piece of text, we use YouTube to host and organise content. You can create playlists that mirror the order of artworks in the exhibition, for example, offering a kind of BSL tour of the show. Where you have BSL translations of texts about the artworks, you might consider using QR codes on your wall labels. Make sure you clearly signal what the code is for, perhaps with a BSL icon. This will allow people to use their own smartphones or devices to access the material. You can also organise in-person BSL tours of your exhibition. This is where you invite BSL users to join a BSL interpreter as they walk them through the exhibition, discussing each artwork. Digital content and moving image work Captions: One of the easiest things you can do to make video material more accessible is use captions. We would always recommend writing the captions yourself over using an automated or AI generated service, because these tend to be inaccurate. At the very least, you should thoroughly check auto-generated captions for any obvious mistakes. We would suggest that the captions are burnt-in to the 'main' version of your artwork or video content, particularly if you're playing it on a TV or projector within the space. This means everyone has the same experience and nobody needs to request captions be turned on. If you're interested in writing creative captions or growing your confidence for captioning non-spoken audio, like sound effects or ambient music, check out the work of organisations like Carefuffle, who specialise in this field. Audio descriptions: Audio describing moving image artwork can feel daunting. Particularly if the film is long or fast-paced. As a starting point, you can browse our Audio Described Films playlist on YouTube to listen to how we've done it ourselves in the past. The best way to provide an audio described film is to have the descriptions playing alongside the film's own audio - two tracks, playing simultaneously, without overlapping spoken dialogue. This might not always be possible, though, particularly if the film has rapid conversations and not enough time to fit in descriptions. Texts and writing Interpretation is a key part of any exhibition. From the curatorial text to how you describe the artworks, communicating the themes and ideas behind your show is an important step towards creating a meaningful experience for your audience. It is also an area where a little extra time and consideration can go a long way in improving accessibility. If you keep reading, you'll find advice about things like fonts, sizes, and graphic design in the Communications and Marketing segment of this resource. Here, we'll discuss how to make the content of your written interpretation accessible. Reading Levels: The tone and language you use to describe your exhibition and the artworks is important. We'd advise aiming for a Reading Level of 8 on the Flesch-Kincaid Scale, which is the average reading age of a 13 year old. You can check this in Microsoft Word by enabling the Readability Statistics, or you can copy and paste your text into one of many free online reading level checkers. Writing in plain, easily understandable language makes what you're trying to say much more accessible to a wide pool of people, whether they identify as disabled or not. It also strengthens the curation of your exhibition, because you will gain confidence and insight by distilling your ideas. Glossaries: Sometimes, particularly if you are working with conceptual art or artworks informed by science, for example, there will be phrases or words that you can't simplify as easily. Or you might need to include complex ideas or language because they are important to the artwork. When this is the case, we recommend offering a glossary, or list of definitions, so that people can engage more easily with the big ideas you feel are important. Easy Reads: No matter how understandable your writing is, it's always worth providing an Easy Read format as well. Easy Reads are designed for learning disabled people and those who have difficulty understanding standard information. They can also be useful to help young children understand your exhibition. Easy Read guides use short sentences and images, usually in as a PDF. If checking with the Flesch-Kincaid scale, Easy Read material should score no higher than level 3. It's best practice to use photographic images in place of graphic illustrations or cartoons. However, you should always check the copyright of photos you plan to use for your work. If possible, run your Easy Ready information by a learning disabled person, to see how effective it is. We would always encourage you to pay disabled people when you employ them as accessibility consultants. Similar to an Easy Read guide, you might consider writing a Social Story for your exhibition or events programme. Social stories look similar to Easy Reads, but they provide more information, such as how long an event might last, how somebody might travel to the venue, and who the people involved in the project are. Check out Oily Cart's Social Story for When the World Turns for an idea of what you could do. Tactile and sensory engagement Tactile artwork and models: Offering tactile or sensory methods of interacting with or understanding your exhibition can make it more accessible to lots of people, particularly if they are visually impaired or blind. This might mean exhibiting art that are designed to be touched, or work that involves the other senses, like smell or taste. It is worth remembering however that strong scents can be an access barrier to some neurodivergent people, so if smell is an important part of your offering, make sure you inform people in advance. Consider creating additional tactile models where people are not allowed to touch the original. This can be a professionally made replica or you could DIY it, particularly if the artwork uses textures or materials that are easily sourced. Think about ways to allow people to physically feel the texture and composition of an artwork. If it is a painting, you could provide a small sample that replicates the textures of the work. Tactile wayfinding: Guiding people around your exhibition - whether it's between artworks, or to find facilities like the bathroom - is an important consideration in the planning process. Signage is useful for telling people where things are or what to expect, but to really improve the accessibility of your wayfinding, we recommend installing tactile floor surfaces or guides to help people navigate. Tactile strips can be laid on the floor to create a pathway to follow or they can surround floor-based works and sculptures on plinths to tell people who can't see the object that they need to take care. You might even consider integrating tactile wayfinding as part of your exhibition design. Content warnings Trigger warnings or content notes tell people what they can expect to find in an artwork or in a space. Common uses for them include: Warning for flashing lights or images You should use a warning if an artwork or installation contains flashing images or lights. Ideally, you would plan a way for people to avoid them - either by showing the work in a space they can pass-by, or by allowing visitors to press play on a video rather than having it playing on a loop. Try to present artworks that contain three flashes or below per second, as this is widely considered within safe limits. Always include a warning if the rate is faster. Sensitive content or adult themes should be flagged to visitors before they engage with an artwork. If a moving image work or film contains material or ideas people may find distressing, include a content warning at the start of the film. If you are playing sensitive material on a loop, consider how you might warn people before they enter the space. If the warning is only at the start of the film, there is a risk that people will miss it if they enter part way through. If you are dealing with sensitive material and want to be prepared for visitors in distress, think about the resources and training you might need in place. A quiet space for people to feel calm can be useful, as can having information to hand should they need to find support you can't offer.
Events programming Expand Are you planning to have a private view or additional events during your exhibition? Don't forget to consider way to increase accessibility when planning your programme. You might be hosting a panel discussion, organising a BSL tour of the show or setting up a private view to celebrate the opening - if you can embed access into these events, you are making your exhibition more accessible to disabled people. Do visitors need a ticket? If your venue has a specific capacity or you want to manage the flow of visitors, you might be considering ticketing your event. This might also be a useful way to help track audience figures for any reporting you might have to do for funding. Here are a few tips on managing capacity with access in mind: If your private view is ticketed or guest list only, make it clear that if someone needs to bring an access assistant or support worker they can do so, free of charge Test out the booking system in advance to check for accessibility features Make sure there is a clear way to get in touch with you if a visitor needs to book their ticket in another way, such as via email or phone Everyone wants their private view to be busy, but it’s important to manage capacity – be aware of any maximum capacity figures and how to avoid overcrowded areas or bottlenecks throughout the space Staggering entry times or offering a 'quieter private view' with lowered capacity before the busier event can make your event more inclusive I want to document my event, how best can I do this? Photography can be a great way to capture and document your work. Whether you have hired a photographer or you're documenting an event yourself, make sure you have considered ways to keep this accessible and welcoming for visitors. If you're using flash photography, clearly signpost that you will do so - as well as publishing warnings about this on any marketing and comms. Visitors who are photosensitive need to be made aware that there might be flash in the space You might want to consider a sticker system for visitors who do not want to be photographed. Visitors can wear stickers to flag to photographers that they do not want to be captured in photographs - this can also be useful when editing any images after the event! Do I need more seating? Having additional seats and stools on hand during a live event is great for ensuring your visitors can relax and enjoy the programme. Even if you are organising just a casual opening, we recommend having some seats available for people to use if they need it. High / ‘poseur’ tables and bar stools aren’t accessible for many disabled people – opt for regular height tables and chairs instead If you’re holding an event with a seated audience, also remember to leave plenty of space for wheelchair users Serving refreshments at your event You might be considering serving drinks or food at your event. Be mindful of who you are catering for and what options you could put in place to be more inclusive. Have ingredients and allergens available to relay to visitors should they ask. If you are serving nuts, ensure visitors are aware of this Have multiple options available for glasses / drinking receptacles, and make sure you have straws available for anyone who requires one Remember to offer non-alcoholic drinks (not just tap water!) The bar needs to be accessible too. Make sure it’s not too high for wheelchair users or people of short stature (as many bars are) – no higher than 80cm Printed text and captions at events Will there be introductory speeches or a panel discussion? It's worth considering offering multiple formats for events and announcements, particularly if you already have a script ready of what is going to be said. Large Print: We recommend printing out speeches, lyrics/scripts (if you have music or performances) and any useful exhibition information that can be handed out if needed. Printing in 18pt or above is recommended for large print publications. Have a few printed and ready to hand out - make sure to avoid laminating them as a shiny surface can be inaccessible. Live Palantypist: Ideally if you have the budget we recommend booking in a palantypist to live-caption your event. They type out what is spoken on a specialised keyboard which is then presented on a screen for audience members. This service is much more accurate that auto-generated AI captions and provided by a trained individual. Captioning: Offering auto-generated captions for a spoken event can be beneficial for hearing impaired audiences. Services such as Otter.ai or built in zoom captioning can be used when you don't have access to live captioning. They useful for testing out access tools for expanding accessibility and can be used as a starting transcript for any recordings you might want to publish online. Be aware that these online digital tools have a lower level of accuracy than live palantypists. Considering planning an exhibition tour? Exhibitions tours are a great way to explore the work in another way and offer alternative accessible ways to access the show. You might be considering offering a curator's tour or a guided walk through the exhibition - consider what types of tours you could offer and how to reach more audiences with your work. Some tours you might be interested in organising are: Audio Description Tours: this is usually a guided tour of the exhibition led by a curator or organiser, including live Audio Description of the works provided by an organisation such as VocalEyes, specifically for visually impaired audiences Meet and greets: Offering a more intimate setting for visitors, meet and greets usually have a lower capacity and an opportunity to speak directly with the team involved in the exhibition. Through this format, visitors can ask questions, learn more insight into the exhibition and perhaps meet some of the artists and creatives featured in the show. Tactile Tours: Tailored specifically for visually impaired audiences, tactile tours offer an opportunity to explore the exhibition with tactile objects. There might be elements of the show that are already allowed to be touched and handled, but you might also create replicas and tactile versions specifically designed with visually impaired people in mind. This might also be paired with live audio descriptions. BSL Tours: We've already mentioned BSL tours in this resource, but offering a BSL tour as part of your programme is a great way to be inclusive for D/deaf audiences. Be mindful you might need to book more than one BSL interpreter. Its also very useful to share exhibition information with the interpreters in good time ahead of the tour so that any specific terminology or important names can be double checked. Digital Tours: If you are considering creating an online tour that people can access from their home, think about how to document the space and the artworks for digital viewing. Consider how you will share this online and what access provisions might be in place such as captions and audio description. Can you provide a quiet space? Private views can get overwhelming and stressful. If you have access to a quiet space or separate area with comfortable seating, consider using it as a rest space with less noise Did you have a space available for this during the entire exhibition? Make sure this is available for people during events too - you might need to check it can be opened outside of standard opening hours If you don't have access to a quiet space, consider moving some seating or even the bar outside if this is a possibility so that guests can congregate there Who will staff the event? Having staff or volunteers on hand to support your event is incredibly helpful when there is a lot to manage! Welcoming people to the space is especially important when it might be more busy and people are looking for navigation. We've gathered some useful tips on what to remember for your next event: Is there a clear way to identify staff? This is useful for anyone wanting to ask a question or find something specific. It doesn't have to be a formal uniform, but perhaps a badge or bright t-shirt Ensuring staff have DET training or awareness, and that they know of basic emergency procedures. You can learn more about DET training on our website. Remind your team to check the toilets throughout the event, particularly red emergency cords in disabled toilets. In the Euan's Guide Annual Servay 2024, 73% of respondents have come across an accessible toilet that they’ve been unable to use Have on hand a couple of local taxi numbers, particularly those who offer wheelchair accessible taxis - you could also share this information ahead of the event in case anyone wants to book ahead Organising a hybrid event? Are any of the planned events able to be live-streamed or recorded for watching after the event? Make sure you can embed access into any content you will be sharing online. Plan in access for this, such as live (captioning, BSL) or during post production for online sharing - and make sure you advertise this! If you’re organising any artist talks, discussions or ‘in conversation’ events, remember to provide access at these too – book BSL interpreters and a palantypist / live captioning (which also gives you the added bonus of being able to get a transcript of what was said afterwards). Stagetext provide a palantypist / live captioning service Online AI captioning services can be useful to have, especially if you can't afford a palantypist this time around. We have produced a resource on AI tools to support your work which include services such as Otter.ai for live captions. They aren't as accurate but can be a useful starting point when considering access at events and sharing online.
Communications and marketing Expand Accessibility doesn't stop once you've finished planning and installing your exhibition. It's important that you design and publish accessible communications and marketing, too. After all, you want to reach a wide audience to get people interested in your project, and when you include disabled people, your audience grows. It's hard to separate accessible communications from the other areas of planning, because the advice below will also be relevant for things like wall texts, exhibition websites, and catalogues. We'd encourage you to bear this guidance in mind across all your exhibition planning! Important things to remember throughout When writing texts, whether it's a curatorial text, a wall text, an exhibition guide, or even a script to read out at your opening event, the tone, language, and legibility of your words will impact their accessibility. We'd advise aiming for a Reading Level of 8 on the Flesch-Kincaid Scale, which is the average reading age of a 13 year old. We spoke more about this in the Presenting Work section of this resource. However well you plan, there might be questions you haven't thought of or situations you couldn't foresee. When people feel comfortable to ask you for help, it will make them more confident that their visit will be accessible for them. Make sure you have an open and easily accessible line of communication between you and your audience. You can advertise an email address, a phone number, or a social media account that allows people to get in touch with questions they might have. If you are working part-time or your staff capacity is limited, make sure you clearly list working hours and anticipated response times where you can, so people know how long they should wait to hear from you. The more options for communication you can provide, the better. What works for one person may not be accessible for another. Transparency is key. There are some things which are out of our control, despite your best efforts to make your exhibition accessible. Where you can foresee barriers to access, however small, communicate these in advance. Don't omit information that might impact someone's visit. This will only lead to disappointment all round. For example, if you have no choice but to work out of a venue that is not step-free, inform people of this on your exhibition listing. Get specific. How many steps are there on the journey? If there are ramps, what degree of incline can people expect? This information affords disabled people agency and choice. When there are holes in your provision of access, the best thing you can do is be honest and transparent about it. Try your best to make your core content and information accessible. Steer away from access that feels tacked on or that makes people feel as though they aren't experiencing the 'main' or intended event. Consider using 18pt font for all of your communications, rather than creating separate Large Print guides, for example. Best practice in graphic design If you're designing visuals for your exhibition, there are some key steps to take to make your work accessible: Fonts: We'd always advise people use sans-serif fonts to aid in accessibility. The more complex a font, the harder it is for people to read, whether they identify as disabled or not. Similarly, you should avoid using italicised, underlined, capitalised or strike-through text. You shouldn't be using font smaller than 12pt font. Really, we'd suggest you use 14pt font as a minimum. Large print is considered 18pt and above. Consider using 18pt throughout, to avoid the need for 'secondary' or 'adapted' visitor experiences should people have to request large print information. Making a hashtag for your event or exhibition? Make sure to write it (and encourage others as well) in Camel case. Here's an example of a hashtag written without Camel case: #shapeartsexhibition. Because the words run into each other, it is illegible both to viewers and screen reading software. Here's how it should be written: #ShapeArtsExhibition Contrast: If you're layering colours and text, the contrast between colours should be at least 25%. This is particularly important when the text is includes key information - people need to be able to read it. You can check the contrast between two colours using the Web Accessibility In Mind online tool. As a useful approach though, if you are worried the contrast is too low, change the colours. It can be simpler if you opt for single coloured backgrounds and texts, to avoid variations in contrast which may make parts of your text illegible. Avoid using text over images. This can be hard to read, especially when the image is complex or detailed and the font is overcomplicated. Make things as easy to read as possible. Printed materials: Avoid glossy print finishes, and instead opt for matte. This makes them easier to read. If you have a choice, go for heavier paper weights. This makes it easier to hold and makes double sided material easier to read, because it stops print from one side showing on the other. If you have limited materials and are reusing printed guides, for example, consider matte lamination to protect them and make them easier to clean. Consider producing a braille version of printed material, like exhibition guides. It's important that you advertise this to your visitors, so they know it's there if they want or need it. This isn't an exhaustive list, but should get you started in the right direction. For a full breakdown and detailed technical advice about accessible communications (both print and digital), check out Unlimited's Accessible Arts Marketing Guide, which is available in large print and audio formats too. Online content Alt texts and image descriptions: If you're sharing images online, whether to document or to advertise your exhibition, you should always include alt texts and image descriptions. They are similar, but with some important differences. Alt texts are embedded in html code. Screen readers use alt texts to follow the structure of a webpage as well as to inform users of the purpose of an image. Alt texts are usually shorter for this reason, and are often limited to 100 - 250 characters, depending on the software you are using. If you are an Arts Marketer, it might also be worth noting that alt texts are used in Search Engine Optimisation. By including them, you are not just improving the accessibility of your content, but also the visibility of it on search engines. We would recommend keeping alt texts to 280 characters max, or the length of a Tweet. Image descriptions on the other hand are often longer and more descriptive because they have the sole purpose of telling people about the visual content and are less often limited by character or word count. They are closer to an audio description than alt texts are. Image descriptions should be included in captions or body text, so everyone can read them. They are useful for visually impaired and blind people, but also popular more widely because they often tell people more about an image than looking at it would alone. We'd recommend writing both alt texts and image descriptions to cover all bases. For example, if you're posting about your exhibition on Instagram, use Instagram's own alt text feature to write your alt text, then include a longer image description in the caption or in your comments. There are more and more auto-generated alt text writers available. As a general rule of thumb, we'd advise against relying on these, though they may be useful as a starting point. For more information about the difference between alt texts and image descriptions, visit the Perkins School for the Blind resource. Captions: Any time you share videos with sound online, you should always use captions. This not only makes your content more accessible, but increases engagement across the board. You should caption both spoken language and the soundtrack of the video, which includes things like music, ambient noise, and sound effects. How you go about this depends on the software or app that you're using to edit and post your video. Most social media platforms nowadays have an auto-generate function for captions. These are useful, but you should always check automated captions for accuracy. We've found the best software for adding captions to social media content is CapCut, which has the most accurate automated caption writing and timing function. If you're sharing longer form content, like sharing moving image artworks from your exhibition online, captions will take longer. We recommend uploading a transcript along with your video to YouTube, which has a good in-built caption timing function. It can use your transcript to make accurate and well-timed captions. You should still check for errors though! The same rules apply for captions as with the best practice in graphic design and fonts - make sure they're legible. A black bar behind the text often solves any contrast problems you might encounter. Find out more about best practice when it comes to captions and subtitles from our friends at Stagetext. Other formats: In addition to captioning, there are several options you can provide your digital audience to ensure greater accessibility. For example, you might have an exhibition website with the curatorial text or information about the show. Consider recording and sharing an audio version of this information. You could also share your artwork audio descriptions online alongside any images you post. Similarly, you can upload BSL videos discussing the core content of your show, and you can post these on social media or on the exhibition website. Making this content public online reassures your audience that there will be access provision should they wish to visit your exhibition in person. Information is key If you have an exhibition website, a listing, or something like an Eventbrite page, try to include as much information about access as possible. This may require you to think about the order in which information is presented, and how you can break it down into readable and manageable sections. Don't be afraid to share information about what access you don't have, for example the venue may not have an accessible toilet. People need to know this in advance. However, you can suggest alternatives - does the nearest station have an accessible toilet you can direct people to? Does a nearby shop or venue? 62% of respondents to Euan's Guide's annual survey said that they will avoid going to a venue if it has not shared its disabled access information, because they presume it is inaccessible. Think about whether anything is likely to change throughout the course of the exhibition. Are there building works planned? Is there a large event happening locally that could impact travel? Providing this kind of information to people can be really helpful. Venue information If you've read The Venue portion of this resource, you'll be familiar with the importance of choosing accessible venues where possible, as well as how things like local transport and travel options factor into this decision. Now you've got your venue, part of what you want to communicate to your visitors is where you are and how to get there. This information might be housed on your website or exhibition listing. What should you consider? How can people get to your exhibition? What are the nearest transport links, like train stations, bus stops, or car parks? Try to include this in your listing, for example:"You can find us at The Venue. The nearest train station is London Kings Cross, which is accessible across many National Rail routes as well as the Victoria, Piccadilly, Northern, Circle, and Hammersmith & City London Underground lines." In addition to information about the accessibility of your venue, think about the accessibility of these transport routes. Are they step free? If not, can you offer alternative routes? For example: "London Kings Cross has step-free access to all platforms across all National Rail and London Underground lines. We recommend checking the Transport for London website in advance to ensure lifts are working before travelling." Beyond physical access, is there guidance you can offer about quieter times to travel? Particularly if you know that there is going to be a large event or disruption during the exhibition run. Many transport providers will offer this information online, for example:"London Kings Cross is quietest between 11am and 3pm. You can find out more about the quietest times to travel on the Transport for London website." If people are driving, let them know where the nearest disabled parking bays are, how many, and whether you foresee any problems with access to them during your exhibition, like roadworks. If your venue is difficult to find - perhaps it's nestled within a University Campus - there are a few things you can do to make this easier for all of your visitors. Consider producing a picture or video walkthrough from the nearest transport hub to your venue. You could do this in person, and film it on your phone, or you could use Google Maps Street View. Here's a Visual Guide we made for a venue we worked in in 2024. Remember to make your visual guide accessible. If it's a video, provide captions describing the journey. If you're using images, try to include image descriptions to help orientate people. You might consider making an audio only guide, describing the journey to your venue and any landmarks along the way that are tactile. You can provide additional location information, such as What3Words to help people find your exhibition. What can people expect in your venue? Once they know where you are and how to get there, you should provide information about what access people can expect within the venue itself. We covered a lot of this in The Venue part of this resource, but here's some advice about the sorts of things you should signpost in your communications: Is the venue step-free? If there are ramps, are they permanent or do they require a staff member to operate them? If there are steps, how many are there and where in the venue are they located? Is the door into the venue particularly heavy? Is it a fire door? Would a staff member need to be on hand to help open it? If it's likely that it could present a barrier to access, let people know. What accessible facilities are available? Are there accessible toilets in the venue? If not, where are the nearest ones? Where's the nearest Changing Places toilet? Are assistance dogs welcome? Will you provide a water bowl for them to hydrate? Advertise the access you've worked hard on. Are there MP3 players and headsets offering audio description? Have you planned a BSL or touch tour of the exhibition? Let people know in your listing! Are there quiet times to visit? If there are events, are they relaxed? Do you have a designated quiet space within the venue? At what times is it accessible? If you're ticketing events, do PAs, carers, and support workers need to buy or reserve a separate ticket? Can you offer them free tickets?
Additional resources Expand Is this the help you were looking for? Check out our other resources Commissioning Disabled Artists Access as a creative tool How can I develop and accessible project?
Who are we? Expand We are a disability-led arts organisation which works to improve access to culture for disabled people by providing opportunities for disabled creatives, training cultural institutions to be more open to disabled people, and through running participatory arts and development programmes. Our programmes have run for fifty years, supporting disabled creatives and those facing disabling barriers to creative careers or audience participation. Our current programme finds us opening new avenues for disabled creatives through commissioning, exhibitions, and learning-based support such as residencies, advice, and guidance. We continue to break new ground in digital spheres and advocating for disabled people struggling to access the arts and creative industries through our consultancy services. We work across three main areas: A creative programme, working directly with disabled creatives Heritage projects, documenting the social history of disabled people Access consultancy, including training and auditing We receive funding from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund to support our creative programme and heritage projects.
What's important to us? Expand Our Philosophy and founding principle is that all disabled people should have the opportunity to participate fully in arts and culture Our Vision is an inspiring and inclusive arts sector, accessible to all Our Mission is to promote great art and inclusive practices, knowledge, and learning, ensuring disabled people have active and influential roles in the industry - as leaders, creatives, participants, and audiences Our Values are inclusion, ambition, creativity, and excellence And we are driven by the Social Model of Disability... At Shape, all of our work is informed by the Social Model of Disability. The Social Model holds that a person isn’t ‘disabled’ because of their impairment, health condition, or the ways in which they may differ from what is commonly considered the medical ‘norm’; rather it is the physical and attitudinal barriers in society – prejudice, lack of access adjustments and systemic exclusion – that disable people. Find out more about the Social Model of Disability.
What are we looking for in a Trustee? Expand We are recruiting disabled and non-disabled voluntary Board members. As a member of our Board, you will gain an insight to how the arts and cultural industries in the UK work. From lived experience to professional experience, we are looking for people from all backgrounds who are passionate about the arts and its potential to change disabled people’s lives to join our Board. You might be... A young disabled creative at the start of your career journey: come and develop with us as a Board member A seasoned arts professional: come and help us evolve You might be in Business Strategies & Governance Or in Financial strategies, management & planning Working in Charity or Creative Industries financial or auditing roles A representative of communities & their voices Or maybe working in IT & Digital Working or volunteering in Heritage & archives Perhaps you have a track record or are starting out in film, media and artistic moving image Or have worked in Human Resources & Management A professional in Communications, media & PR Perhaps you are running your own business Or perhaps you cannot get a start in your chosen career Or maybe you are an unemployed disabled person frustrated at the barriers you face, and have lived experience of how hard it can be for disabled people in contemporary society More than anything, we are looking for a passion about the arts and opening culture up to more disabled creatives and users.
What does the Board do? Expand Our team of Trustees are responsible for ensuring that: Shape complies with its Memorandum and Articles of Association, and that it pursues only the objectives which are defined in it Shape complies with charity law, employment law and other relevant legislation or regulations Shape is financially viable the Board is defining goals and setting targets for the organisation, and that performance is evaluated against these targets Shape’s ethos and reputation are safeguarded Administration is effective and efficient and we are accountable to our stakeholders and funders The Board are also responsible for: Contributing to the Board’s role in giving firm strategic direction Appointing the Chief Executive and monitoring their performance Sitting on appraisal, recruitment and disciplinary panels, as required Attending either the Finance, HR and Risk, or Programme and Development Sub Committees. Respectively, these monitor the infrastructure including accounts and budgets; human resources, IT and risk; and the more public-facing elements such as Artists Programmes and International Projects. Helping to oversee the mission of the organisation, provide governance & insight Being advocates & ambassadors to the organisation, including attending Private Views and other functions
What is expected of me? Expand The Board and Shape’s Executive Team meet four times a year - once every three months. Each meeting takes up about half a day.In addition, Trustees are expected to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the yearly Away Day, both of which happen once per year.The main responsibilities of any Charity Trustee are outlined by the Charity Commission. You can browse their ‘5-minute guides’ for Trustees on their website.The Nolan Principles of Public Life set the standards for how our trustees are expected to conduct themselves. These are:SelflessnessIntegrityObjectivityAccountabilityOpennessHonestyLeadership You can read more about these principles on the UK Government’s website.
What do our current Trustees say? Expand Our Board enjoy their roles as Trustees and gain from it too... “As a young person, I wasn’t sure my application to a board would be taken seriously; I didn’t see many people my age (early 20’s) on charity boards. However, Shape never made me feel like my age was a barrier - if anything, they saw it as a strength. Now, 11 years on, it is one of the best decisions I have made in my professional career. Giving your time to support causes you are passionate about is an incredibly rewarding feeling. I became Vice Chair about 4 years ago, and I have learned a whole host of transferable skills, working alongside dedicated experts in their respective fields. I’ve no doubt some of the main successes in my career are largely thanks to the strategic experience I have gathered during my time as a Trustee, and along the way I have been inspired by, and lucky enough to meet, my brilliant colleagues across the board.” - James Hodgson, Vice Chair “As a disabled working-class artist being on the Board of Trustees at Shape allows me an incredible opportunity to share my experience of the barriers I encounter in the art world and advocate for the disabled artistic community.” - Michelle Duxbury, Trustee Who else sits on our Board?
Important to remember Expand This role is voluntary and unpaid. Reasonable expenses will be reimbursed. If you have no experience, don’t worry! We will provide buddy support, training and development for you in the role of trustee. We don’t expect you to be experts. We can teach you how organisations operate. We would also love to attract experienced candidates who are familiar with Arts Council England’s governance requirements, with a good knowledge of its Let’s Create strategy and policies, or candidates with experience of being on the board of another National Portfolio Organisation. Passion matters more than experience. We are seeking passionate, engaged and willing-to-learn people who may be at the start of their creative careers and would benefit from finding out just how the arts and creative industries work from the inside. This voluntary advisory role is for both disabled and non-disabled applicants. The role is about scrutiny, not programming or production, so the Trustee roles are governance, not operational. Your role as Trustee is about holding the Executive team to account and interrogating strategies, as well as bringing wider advice, lived experiences, reflections on the world, professional expertise and opinions and so on, to the board. If you want to apply but certain things are not clear, please feel free to ask for an informal chat with other board members before you apply, where we can match up your skills/expertise with the relevant board members too. Your time commitment: half a day every three months where you will be learning about the UK arts industry and join us on an exciting journey!
How to apply Expand If you would like to apply, please write to us with an expression of interest in an email to our CEO David Hevey on [email protected] with the email subject title ‘Shape Arts Board Application’, along with your CV and a brief summary of why you’d like to be on our Board and what interest areas, skills, or life experience you think would bring. If you would like a no-obligations conversation with our CEO and Artistic Director, David Hevey, you can get in touch via the email address above. We can also arrange an informal chat directly with our Board Members. If you have been shortlisted, we will invite you to an informal interview with the Chair Tony Heaton OBE and the CEO David Hevey. This will be a 30 minute conversation conducted via Zoom. We can provide any of this information in an alternative format. Please email David Hevey with any questions relating to the provision of alternative formats or accessibility across the recruitment process. Deadline for applications This is a rolling process in which we are looking to recruit up to four new Trustees. We expect to have completed recruitment by mid-2026. Please submit your questions and applications promptly to avoid disappointment.
Philip O’Shaughnessy Expand Philip is a senior technology leader with over 25 years’ experience working in highly regulated environments, particularly in financial services. His work focuses on digital strategy, governance, and helping organisations design systems that are resilient, proportionate, and support people effectively. He has led large-scale transformation programmes and worked closely with senior leadership teams on complex decision-making, with a particular interest in how governance, culture, and technology interact. He also brings experience in AI and emerging technologies, including how organisations can adopt them responsibly, ethically, and in ways that support inclusion rather than create new barriers. A significant part of Philip’s career has involved mentoring and developing others, and he is passionate about creating environments where people can perform at their best. He was drawn to Shape’s commitment to inclusion and its role in enabling disabled people to have a meaningful voice and presence in the arts. He is particularly interested in how organisations can remove structural barriers and create more accessible and equitable opportunities. Outside of work, Philip enjoys travel, reading, and long country walks with his golden retriever.