Funded Access & Inclusion Audits Offer
December 5, 2024Call for Expressions of Interest – Access and Inclusion Audits 2024/25
Background to Access and Inclusion Audits
NIMC has supported Access & Inclusion Audits within the local museum sector since 2019-20.
All Accredited museums must ‘be accessible to the public’. To meet the Accreditation standard museums are required to have an approved Access Policy and an Access Plan. The Access Policy and Plan should be informed by access audits and preferably developed in consultation with museum users. It is good practice to review and update your Access Policy and Plans every 5 years.
Access and Inclusion Audits will enable museums to better understand ethical commitments and legal requirements, allowing museums to develop evidence-based plans to enhance museum access and inclusivity. Recently completed Access Audits will allow museums to apply for Access and Inclusion grants (if money become available), which will help to resource aligned improvement works.
What NIMC will provide:
NIMC is securing budget to enable us to provide selected museums with the following:
An Access & Inclusion Audit that will address the following objectives:
- Support Section 7 of the UK Museums Accreditation scheme, User & their Experiences – Be accessible to the public – by providing baseline evidence of their current provision of access and inclusion from a visitor perspective.
- Deliver an Access & Inclusion Audit Report for each museum that will identify priority areas of work that will inform future planning and support funding bids to be more accessible and inclusive. The report for each museum will include priorities and approximate cost bandings with reference to good practice guidance where available.
The Access & Inclusion Audit will be carried out by an experienced Access Consultant and informed by best practice as well as responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. It will include the following elements for each museum around the visitor journey:
- pre-visit information
- arrival and welcome
- museum facilities (cafes, shops, toilets etc if they have them)
- horizontal and vertical circulation
- gallery and collections interpretation and experience (an overview)
- post-visit information
What museums need to commit to:
If selected your museum needs to commit to the following for delivery of the project:
- accommodate a visit from an Access Auditor followed up by an interview (most likely by phone) during 2024-25;
- invite a local disability advocacy group to visit your museum and respond/ add to the Access audit report (written by Access Auditor) most likely during Jan – Mar 2025.
To express your interest in having an access and inclusion audit carried out at your museum then please complete the ‘Access Audits 24-25_EOI’ form attached and return by 4pm, Thursday 19th December 2024 to info@nimc.co.uk
If you have any queries, please get in touch.
We look forward to hearing from you.