Victoria & Albert Museum
Access for deaf people
Popular talks, lectures or demonstrations at the V&A are sometimes translated into British Sign Language (BSL) or are given in Sign Supported English (SSE) by deaf lecturers. These signed talks take place once a month. There is also sound enhancement equipment available on all talks and tours, which is obtained from the information desks.
Access for people with a visual impairment
The V&A has established an innovative programme of touch and audio tours and drawing and photographic courses for blind and partially sighted visitors. These provide an opportunity for handling objects and developing individual art and craft skills. There are regular special visits to major exhibitions for visitors with visual impairments. The visits offer some visual description and some opportunity to touch. Visitors are welcome to bring a sighted escort and a guide dog.
Access for people with learning disabilities
We have established an innovative programme of touch and photographic courses for visitors with a learning disability. These provide an opportunity for handling objects and developing individual art and craft skills. There are regular special visits to major exhibitions.
User groups
Following the user group evaluations of tactile books and sound enhancements in autumn 2004, we have a brief for more regular disabled user involvement. The establishment of a user group is currently subject to funding. The purpose of this group is to help guide and develop services and best practice in areas of the Museum's work, to achieve the requirements of the Act and be pro-active in developing audiences with disabilities. The user group will be made up of disabled people who have an interest in access, visiting museums, and helping improve services and facilities. Members of the group will include people with hearing impairment, visual impairment, learning disabilities and wheelchair users. They will provide the Museum with views on services, assessments of the facilities on offer and will highlight good and bad practice.
Visitors feel that service provision in the V&A has improved
The Autumn 2004 Mori survey found that of those visitors whose health affects visits to museums and galleries, 50% agreed that the V&A provides an appropriate level of service regarding ease of access around the galleries (18% neither agree or disagree, 20 disagreed, 9% no opinion). This compares well to the results for the same period the year before, where only 24% agreed and 34% disagreed.
Similarly, provision for those with hearing difficulties was shown to have improved with 18% agreeing that the provision was appropriate (10% neither agreed nor disagreed, 0% disagreed and 72% no opinion), compared to 0% the year before (7% neither agreed nor disagreed, 5% disagreed, 88% no opinion). Visibility has also improved - in 2003, 31% disagreed that the lighting provision was appropriate, but in 2004, only 7% disagreed. [i]
Sources
- [i] Disability Standard case study 2005