Museums fail to improve online access information for some disabled visitors

A new report tracking the online access information provided by UK museums has found that, although this has increased significantly since 2018, there have no major improvements in provision for some disabled visitors.

A team of digital volunteers, who reviewed more than 3,150 museum websites using a checklist over a 15-week period, found that nearly 20% provided no access information for potential visitors who have historically been under-recognised as requiring accessibility measures, including blind and visually impaired people, D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, and neurodivergent people.

The results are outlined in the Heritage Access 2022 report, which was published this week by VocalEyes in partnership with Stagetext, Autism in Museums and the Centre for Accessible Environments.

The report found that while the number of sites sharing information about access aids, facilities, resources or events on their websites has increased significantly since a previous survey in 2018, this information was mainly focused on visitors who face mobility barriers.

Information relevant to blind and visually impaired people, D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, and neurodivergent people show smaller increases, and are from a lower baseline.

There were significant increases in the proportion of sites that mentioned aspects relevant to all or a large proportion of visitors with access requirements, but the increases were less marked for information for the historically under-recognised groups.

The report said: "All those access aids, facilities, resources or events included in our checklists in both 2018 and 2022 have shown an increase in mentions. While this is very positive, with a few exceptions, those which show larger increases are aspects which started with a higher baseline and were mainly connected with people who face mobility barriers.

"Information relevant to blind and visually impaired people, D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people, and neurodivergent people do show increased mentions, but from a lower baseline, and in the majority of cases not as large."

For example, 64% of the websites reviewed in the latest survey mention Accessible/Blue Badge parking, up from 48% in 2018, while just 6% reference recorded audio-described guides (up from 3% in 2018) and 4% mention ear defenders (up from 1% in 2018).

Tables showing the proportion of venues that mentioned specific access provisions in State of Museum Access 2018 and Heritage Access 2022:

As well as highlighting the provision of certain access aids, the report shares guidance for venue staff on creating and presenting access information online, covering around 40 different access aids, facilities, resources, and events.

“Heritage Access 2022 is a real-time measure of the accessibility of the sector: progress in some areas but a long way from equality,” says Joanna Wood, the chair of VocalEyes. “It provides a comprehensive guide to the barriers excluding D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent visitors and the solutions to address these.

“Above all though, the D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people who formed the majority of the digital volunteers behind the report show the sector who they miss out on when heritage is inaccessible: no access, no visit. Let’s change that.”

VocalEyes is also launching a free Heritage Access 2022 benchmark tool, an online search and map interface where museums can find the benchmark score for the access information provided by the 2,258 UK museums and heritage sites covered by the project.