What do we mean by access?
From Our Toolkit
Access is about providing equal access opportunities for people to engage and experience heritage.
Ensuring your organisation is accessible to all is underpinned by legal duties. If your organisation is in England, Scotland or Wales you will need to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and if in Northern Ireland Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Access is not just about physical access to your building, for example, stairs as the only way of accessing your building but also about other barriers to access, for instance, sensory – are they different ways for people who are visually impaired to find out about how to access your information?
One-fifth of the population is disabled. By making your buildings, events and activities accessible for all means everyone has the opportunity to enjoy your collections. Underpinning this should be related policies ensuring access is embedded with the organisation.
Do not worry about being perfect, no one gets it right as every person is an individual and what provides access to one does not help another. The important thing is to be constantly building on your access offer and have clear, financially manageable targets.
