How Do We Address Barriers to Heritage Engagement for Disabled People?

What is this advice about?

GOV.UK figures show that heritage participation levels are lower for disabled people, whether working, visiting or volunteering. Barriers include a lack of physical access to buildings and places, societal attitudes to disability, and a lack of awareness of the accommodations that could be put in place.

This advice is for heritage organisations of any size or scale that work with community participants on projects or programming. It demonstrates how organisations can recognise and address barriers for participants.

What are the key points?

What do we define as ’disability’?

Across the Inclusion Advice Hub pages on disability inclusion, we use phrases such as 'disability' or 'disabled'. These broad terms cover individuals with disabilities, long-term and chronic health conditions, and those whose mental or physical health or neurodiversity impacts their daily life.

Disability includes those who:

• Define themselves as disabled under the terms of the Equality Act 2010 – "physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities"
• Have a formal diagnosis of the above
• Do not have a formal diagnosis, but their health has a substantial or long-term impact on their daily lives
• Have mental health conditions that fall under the above
• Have what are labelled 'invisible' disabilities
• Are blind or visually impaired
• Are d/Deaf, including those who are Culturally Deaf or have deaf gain (read more about what these terms mean), have a hearing impairment, or have been deafened
• Are neurodivergent

Disabled people have their own communities, cultures, and heritage that need to be recognised and respected. You can find more about this at the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive and the Leicester University Research Centre for Museums and Galleries resources on reframing disability in museums and galleries.

Why is disability a barrier to heritage engagement?

Disability is a barrier to heritage engagement, not because of an individual’s disability, but because society is not inclusive and accessible for disabled people. People are disabled by a lack of access, not by the disability itself, and this is the core concept of the Social Model of Disability. Recognising this concept enables organisations to treat disabled people with dignity and respect.

Heritage organisations should invest time in developing a sound understanding of the Social Model of Disability. In addition, they should work to understand the ways that disabled people are impacted throughout their daily lives by the physical environment and by society’s preconceptions about and attitudes to disability. There are links at the end of this guidance to get you started.

It can feel confronting and challenging to recognise the Social Model of Disability, especially if your organisation has already begun to take steps towards accessibility. It is important to start the change process not through recrimination, blame, or guilt but by acknowledging a society-wide issue and committing to action.

Knowledge building and learning how different factors can affect disabled people is the key first step. Below are some examples, but it is worth exploring your site and activities with disabled people so they can advise on the key issues from their lived experiences.

Physical

• How much of your building is fully physically accessible? This means no stairs, no corridors too narrow for walking aids and wheelchairs, no steep slopes, no uneven surfaces, doorways wide enough for wheelchairs and powerchairs
• Do you have a temporary or portable ramp? If so, who is responsible for it? Are all staff and volunteers trained to use it?

Environmental

• Are the lighting levels very bright or very dim? Are they adjustable?
• Are there any repetitive or loud noises? If so, do you provide noise-cancelling headphones?
• Are there dedicated quiet spaces?
• Are there any strong scents or odours?
• Do you have a sensory map of your site or building?

Social and Policy

• Do you have a sticker or lanyard system informing everyone of the interactions people prefer?
• Have all of your staff and volunteers had training in working with neurodiverse people, dignity and respect, invisible disabilities, and other relevant courses?
• Do you recognise the importance of interpretation in British sign language and understand why written transcripts are unsuitable as an alternative?
• Does your volunteer or community engagement policy explicitly reference available and possible accommodations for disabled people?
• Does your core budget have a ring-fenced section for access?

It is important for organisations to note that disabled people do not need to share their diagnosis or produce formal medical evidence of their disability to request accommodations. There are many different types of disability and chronic health, and individuals can be affected in various ways.

It is also important for organisations to recognise that, for many disabled people, sharing their disability is a complicated process as they may be wary of stigma and discrimination. Participants may not share their disabilities at the beginning of a project or activity. They may only do so later when trust has been built or when they are convinced of commitment to inclusive practice.

How do we build trust with disabled participants and audiences?

Facing barriers in their daily lives, disabled people often lack trust in organisations to provide genuinely accessible opportunities for them. Building trust is essential in dismantling barriers to participation as it involves demonstrating a commitment to inclusion.

Trust building is a process that requires time and resources. It should usually involve:

• Identifying who isn’t currently represented in your participant cohort and beginning to explore why this might be the case, thinking about the factors in the above section on barriers
• Reaching out to organisations and groups led by and representing disabled people and being transparent about why you want to work with them
• Building an advisory group that includes disabled people to feed into your planning and strategy across your organisation. If you have a board or trustees, you could look at our advice on recruiting more diverse members for your heritage board
• Identifying levels of time and financial resources you can dedicate to tackling barriers
• Re-examining the barriers to your work with the groups you have reached out to so you are informed by their expertise and experience
• Making an action plan, including timed commitments
• Making a public commitment to this action plan
• Embedding a programme of awareness training for all staff, beginning with those who will be working with participants (but not limited to them as development needs to be organisation-wide)
• Establishing your commitment to disability inclusion in all promotion and communication about your work, especially when recruiting participants

Finally, it is important to make realistic commitments. No heritage organisation, even national ones, can commit to solving society’s issues with accessibility for disabled people wholesale. It is vital to acknowledge your limitations and make realistic commitments on an achievable timescale.

The following sections give brief details of some examples of realistic commitments. Tailor your plans to your site, activities and resources. Identifying and planning for these actions must also be undertaken with disabled people advising you.

What are some realistic ways to address physical barriers?

• Invite disabled people with different access requirements to review your project or move through your site or the location used for your activities. With them, identify any access issues and draft an updated access plan. Ensure you pay them for their time
• Where possible, move furniture to ensure there are clear routes through indoor spaces that are wide enough for those using walking aids, wheelchairs and powerchairs
• Ensure doors have handrails next to them to allow people to balance when opening a door
• Provide detailed advance information on steps, including number, height and material. For slopes, provide details about incline and length
• If your venue is inaccessible, look at hiring nearby accessible spaces instead. Ask disabled people for their recommendations based on positive experiences
• Dedicate fundraising to putting in new accessibility measures where needed, such as updating lifts, building new ramps, and fitting accessible bathrooms
• Investigate best practice that other heritage organisations are using to make their work inclusive, including fieldwork and on-site activity

What are some realistic ways to address environmental barriers?

• Develop a detailed sensory map of your site or spaces you use for activities. Detail lighting types, any noisy areas, areas with strong smells, and small or narrow spaces
• Offer noise-cancelling headphones
• Replace worn or damaged surfaces, including flooring, desks and doors
• Use neutral-smelling products for cleaning and try to avoid artificial scents such as plug-in air fresheners

What are some realistic ways to address social barriers?

• Develop a contact with at least 2 BSL interpreters to cover any session or event with d/Deaf participants. Ensure you budget for these in your planning
• Develop a rigorous programme of staff and volunteer training to build awareness of the impacts of different types of disability as well as an appreciation and understanding of the culture and heritage of disabled people
• Make physical descriptions a default when introducing yourself in meetings. For example: “Hi, I’m Anne, I am a white woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, and I am wearing a blue wool jumper”
• Develop a social story for participants. These are especially useful for younger neurodivergent participants. Read our guidance on social stories for potential visitors

How can we budget for tackling barriers?

Although many interventions and accommodations can be low or zero cost, there should always be a dedicated budget for accessibility in your projects and programming to ensure it is embedded across your planning and management.

Access should be a core element of your organisation’s annual budget as it should be provided as standard without people needing to request it. This falls under the ’anticipatory duty‘ of the Equalities Act 2010. Organisations must anticipate the need to provide access and accommodations and budget accordingly.

You can learn more about ‘anticipatory duty’ from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

Even organisations with access plans in place, who are already working on disability inclusion, will benefit from inviting disabled people to evaluate their places and practices. Regularly undertaking these reviews will help develop a plan and budget for recurring and one-off access costs.

Here are some suggestions to help develop an outline access budget:

• Identify your key recurring costs. For example, do you regularly host talks and events that require a BSL interpreter? Do you produce reports or resources that need Braille versions?
• Identify your one-off costs. For example, could you install a ramp to replace or complement stairs? Could you purchase a powerchair to make your site accessible?
• Reach out to organisations doing similar work or with similar audiences and ask them to share their outline budget and access costs

Further reading on disability

• Scope, the UK disability charity, on the Social Model of Disability
• An introduction to good language use from the Greater Manchester Coalition for Disabled People
• The ONS (Office for National Statistics) 2022 report into experiences of disabled people with activities, goods, and services 2022