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Making an arts venue accessible to all is not just about installing ramps and lifts ? it can be just a case of designing readable leaflets and fliers. Stewart Coulter explains how developing an ?inclusive? design need not be as costly and unreasonable as we may fear.

?It lies within the power of our generation to transform the lives of disabled people and to enrich the world of art itself by their greater involvement. Failure to act diminishes us all.? So wrote Sir Richard Attenborough in 1985, in introducing the publication ?Arts and Disabled People?, the report of the committee of enquiry which he chaired. Since then, there has been a growing interest in improving access to the arts for disabled people, as audiences, participants and as employees.

The most significant change was the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in 1995 and in the setting up of the Disability Rights Commission in 2000 as an enforcement agency for the Act. There can be few people working in the arts today who have not heard of the DDA and its impact on creating ?access for all?. More organisations, more authorities and more individuals appreciate the role that the arts can play in enriching life for disabled people ? and conversely, in the world of the arts, there is a greater appreciation of the needs and desires of disabled people and how to cater for them. What is more important is that increasingly, disabled people are involved in making the decisions that create this access.

There are no accurate figures on the number of disabled people in the UK. One official survey put it at 8.7 million which accounts for almost 15% of the population! The term ?disabled? covers a wide range of impairments from mental health problems and learning difficulties to physical and sensory impairments. Other less obvious conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes and heart conditions are also included. The official wheelchair symbol for disability is therefore rather misleading as fewer than 5% of disabled people are in fact wheelchair users.
What constitutes ?good? access? There is a general perception that this means primary physical access such as ramps, lifts and disabled toilets. Undoubtedly, these are very important but they are only the basics of ?good? access; there are many other elements to take into consideration that give easier and safer access, especially for people with sensory impairments and learning difficulties. Many of these can often be achieved at little or no cost but they do require a thoughtful approach and an understanding of disabled peoples? needs and what is meant by ?inclusive? design. So what are these?

Access features

The first point of access for any arts organisation is its publicity material. Printed material should be designed for readability ? both in appearance and content. Too often design triumphs over information with overprinting, obscure font styles and minuscule point size! ?Over-designed? and wordy printed matter is a barrier to access, but good access does not preclude good design and vice versa (the Donmar Warehouse produces exemplars of accessible printed matter). Material in alternative formats, such as large print, tapes and Braille, will reach a wider audience and is not costly to produce.

Websites must also be accessible to visually and hearing impaired users. This can easily be built in when the site is being constructed but is harder and more expensive to add at a later date. As websites are a service, they are already covered by the DDA so it is no longer a matter of choice. For advice on this there is an excellent free video called ?Websites that work? available from the RNIB.

Access to performances for people with a sensory loss has improved dramatically ? signed performances have been available for some time and audio description has increased over the past few years. A relatively new method to give people with a hearing loss better access to theatrical productions has been introduced in the UK by the charity Stagetext (http://www.stagetext.co.uk). This is a sophisticated form of sub-titling which has proved immensely popular with deaf and hard of hearing audiences. As with sight, hearing loss is age related and many older people cannot use sign language so this method, known as close captioning, makes theatre accessible to them. An evaluation of captioned performances has shown that up to 85% of audiences use it!

Beyond ramps, lifts and accessible toilets, physical features that improve access include:
? Automatic doors (sliding where possible) give easy and safe access to all users.
? Hard flooring, rather than coir matting, thick pile carpets and deep gravel surfaces which create difficulties for wheeled users.
? Handrails ? central or on both sides of ramps, steps and stairs where width permits to assist people with strength in only one arm.
? Closed risers and contrasting nosings on all stairs including emergency exits.
? Clearly marked glass, preferably in colour ? small dots or plain etching are invisible to most users.
? Lifts with tactile controls and voice announcements.
? Integrated signage systems with words in clear font, large point size and in upper and lower case letters (visually impaired people find all capitals difficult to read).
? Reception desks/box office counters at a height that can be reached by seated users ? both visitors and staff.
? Visual and audible alarm systems.
? Colour/tonal contrasts throughout to assist visually impaired users.

The above list is by no means definitive and the only sure way to create universal access is to have an access audit carried out and implement its recommendations where it is reasonable to do so.

Being reasonable

The DDA does not state what factors need to be taken into account when considering what constitutes a ?reasonable step? to provide access. But some of the following factors, taken from the Code of Practice, might be taken into account when considering what is reasonable:
? How effective any measures would be in overcoming the difficulty that disabled people face in accessing services
? How practicable it would be for the service provider to take these measures
? How disruptive the measures would be
? The extent of the provider?s financial and other resources
? The resources already spent on making adjustments
? Financial and other assistance available

It is not sufficient just to give any of the above as a reason for not making adjustments ? you will have to verify the justification.

Effective access for all

There is still some way to go before we will see the full integration of disabled people into every facet of society. Attitudinal barriers are probably more significant than physical ones and a lot harder to rectify. The recent series of ?The Office? on BBC2 and the cringingly appalling antics of David Brent are not far off the general disregard or even ignorance of the average co-worker. What can be applauded is putting a disabled actor into a mainstream comedy programme and addressing these issues as one would any other issue.

Access is a basic right and by careful planning and seeking advice, especially from disabled people, it can be achieved. Providing good access is a continuous process: maintaining facilities and regular disability awareness training will create an inclusive culture within organisations. By creating effective access for disabled people you do so for everyone.

Stewart Coulter is Director of the ADAPT Trust. t: 0141 556 2233;
e: adapt.trust@virgin.net