The final blog of three in a series in which Jane Cordell explores disability and access to the arts.

I am a deaf musician, arts lover and Chair of the Arts Marketing Association. This blog series gives my personal reflections on arts access.

My first blog in October 2024 (read it here) summarised my experience as a deaf person, of trying to escape into the arts follow the death of my father. The second, in January 2025 (read it here) reviewed some local live arts experiences in the North West and asked whether access and artistic quality can be separated from each other.

The question posed in this article is, ‘What is needed to improve arts access?’.

At Result, we have recently had some fascinating conversations with local arts organisations on this topic. There is so much effort and resource going into answering the access question. And there are pockets of good practice. One example was offered by Victoria Howarth, Learning and Engagement manager for Salford Museum and Art Gallery. They have worked on an Arts Council England (ACE)-funded project to implement Easy Read Menus,as well as improved lighting and contrast on potential obstacles – such as plinths – for visually impaired visitors. The Museum and gallery also now offers BSL-video-supported tours which visitors can watch on smartphones while exploring one local historical building. Victoria admitted that although the project has produced some good ideas it had been a ‘steep learning curve and complicated’.

I have a sense that each individual organisation has to plough in a lot of resource to adapt their arts offer in order to provide access. The Result creative team recently met Sarah Emmott, the Co-Creative director of the brilliant community arts organisation, Art with Heart. Sarah observed how arts organisations working close to each other (geographically) but separately can sometimes be wasteful of physical resources. To address this waste, her organisation is planning to look at how groups of arts organisations could better share resources. 

This made me think about how arts and cultural organisations share of information and ideas about their events. Currently, if like me you have access requirements and want to know what your options are for being able to enjoy a live performance or visit, you have to check numerous venues’ websites. Each of the websites tends, frustratingly to list accessible events in different ways. Only after that do you get to consider whether you are interested in the content of what is on offer. It can be quite a soul-destroying process, as often you are led past tantalising descriptions of performances, only to discover, when you reach the Access section, that it is not available to you. All this takes extra time. Unfortunately, we have the same amount of time as everyone else, and sometimes, related to our disabilities or conditions, less.

As with the museum, some  organisations are getting it right. The Octagon Theatre, Bolton has Access right at the top of its What’s On page. This takes you straight to a clear selection of all accessible options. It is easy and quick to use. Civilised. Others could learn from this. Approximately 25% of audiences will have access requirements. Surely it is better to include them  – us – right from the start of their contact – which is usually via the website.

With arts organisations struggling to make ends meet, doesn’t it make sense to pool resources and develop a local source of all accessible events? With Greater Manchester leading the way on integrating creativity into all its health and well-being planning, it could be the perfect place to pilot this simple idea.

But how you do you avoid making access an afterthought? Inclusive planning means starting with a clear understanding of your audience from the very beginning of you’re the process. I used the example of cinemas in my first blog. If you only ever offer one captioned screening a week on a Tuesday afternoon (I am looking at you Everyman St John’s!) should you be surprised that even fewer people turn up? A vicious circle can be created if access is viewed merely as an add-on: people who don’t expect to be offered access at a venue are unlikely to seek information (‘why bother?’). Consequently the venue then asks, ‘We don’t get X type of visitors – and it costs – so why should we offer more accessible events?’.

The other thing to consider is communication. If you plan, for example, a ‘relaxed performance’, it may well benefit a whole range of audience members and not only those who are autistic. How do you reach the 'target' audience whilst not discouraging others who may equally enjoy that type of performance delivery? These questions about inclusivity are worth considering.

I will continue to seek out opportunities to enjoy the arts. I am determined! But I also look forward to the day when I spend less ofmy time and effort on the search and more of my time at the events themselves. 

I believe that collaboration, clarity and consistency are the key elements required to improve arts access. What do you think? Let us know.

We are what we do and we love what we do.