Accessibility surveys

An accessibility survey helps to identify barriers to access, e.g. for people with disabilities. In order to improve accessibility in a structured way, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. The results of an accessibility survey provide the basic information for developing an action plan.

Necessary but complicated?

- know your strengths and weaknesses

- what are the legal requirements and references, can you meet them?

- study your services from your target groups´ points of view

- consider using a checklist to make an evaluation on your own or with the help of volunteers

- consider finding an expert professional to co-operate with on carrying out an access audit

- think about the scope of the audit: does it cover the physical environment, as well as the services and products you offer?

- take various user groups into account

- costs vary, a do-it-yourself audit may only require staff working hours; any volunteer experts should be offered some benefits; an audit carried out by professionals can cost from a few hundred euros to thousands

Checklists

Checklists can be used to evaluate how accessible your premises and services are. A do-it-yourself survey may not be as valuable as a survey by a professional, but it can be of great help. Pay attention to the scope of the audit: Does it cover the physical environment and communications, as well as the services and products that you offer.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in England provides tools for evaluating accessibility. MLA's web pages offer eg. the following tools under the headline "Helping to make your services and institutions more accessible"

• Access for all Toolkit, which enables inclusion in museums, libraries and archives.
• Disability Checklist, which is an easy to use checklist to identify existing good practice and areas for improvement.
• Disability Portfolio, which is a collection of 12 guides on how best to meet the needs of disabled people as users and staff in museums, archives and libraries. It gives invaluable advice, information and guidance to help overcome barriers and follow good practice.
• Cultural Diversity Checklist, which is an easy to use checklist to identify existing good practice and areas for improvement.
• Revisiting Collections Toolkit, which is a toolkit for the capture of information to enhance the meaning and significance of museum collections for new and culturally diverse audiences.