Accessibility

BCMA’s Brain offers a collection of learning resources suitable for museums of all shapes and sizes.

Help keep our collective Brain active and growing by sharing your ideas for new resources and innovative practices here.

Essentials

• An Equity Audit is a comprehensive benchmarking tool that assesses diversity, equity, and inclusion for schools, nonprofit organizations, and companies
• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion (Canadian Museums Association (CMA) resolution from the 2019 Annual General Meeting – all museums are encouraged to embrace this statement and policy position which includes acknowledgement of the unjust treatment of Indigenous communities
• Neighbourhood Arts Network Arts Equity Toolkit
• Accessibility and the Arts: A Series of Community Conversations from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria can be found here
• Respecting Focus: A Behavior Guide for Intelligent Systems
• Designing for Guidance
• Inclusive Design Toolkit
• Valuable Webinars:
  • An Introduction to Brave Spaces, free!
  • NEW Through the Lens – Cultivating Safe Spaces with Elaine Alec, Wednesday, January 20, 10:00 AM PST, Registration is free!
  • NEW Through the Lens: Co-Creating Spaces of Belonging with Laura Bulk, Monday, January 25, 10:00 AM PST, Registration is free!

Physical Differences 

• Accessibility for Historic Places (Heritage BC publication, 2019)
• The Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible Exhibition Design can be found here
• This accessibility toolkit will help you to make your services, buildings, information, and websites more accessible to customers with disabilities
• Design for Accessibility: A Cultural Administrator’s Handbook can be found here
• Accessibility in Creative Spaces toolkit
• Inclusive Education Resources on Disabilities toolkit
• Employers Embracing Employees with Disabilities toolkit
• Ensuring Virtual Events Are Accessible for All toolkit
• Valuable Webinars:
  • Disability Inclusion at Nonprofits: A Guide to Success, free!
  • How to Ensure Accessible Websites and Social Media, free!
  • How to Ensure A Welcoming Lexicon and Inclusive Storytelling, free!
  • How to Ensure Accessible Events, free!
  • How to Recruit, Accommodate and Promote People with Disabilities, free!
  • Introduction to Web Accessibility: Tips and Tricks, free!
  • Disability Etiquette Webinar, free!
  • Making your documents and presentations accessible to all, free!
  • NEW Through the Lens – Deaf Culture and Awareness with Amar Mangat, Wednesday, December 16, 10:00 AM PST, Registration if free!

Blind and Visually Impaired

• Access to Museums and Parks for Patrons who are Blind or Visually Impaired article
• Accessibility information for social media can be found here
• Verbal description training information can be found here
• 4 Ways To Increase Accessibility For Low-Vision And Blind Patrons In Art Museum
• The Audio Description project has resources on how this technology can be used in museums. Information can be found here
• Suggestions on how Museums can be made more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired can be found here, here and here
• Valuable Webinars:
  • Open Access Workshop: Organizing Accessibility from the Grassroots, was facilitated by Vancouver-based artist Carmen Papalia. Papalia featured his ten years of art-making for creating space for non-visual learning, modelling support networks, and disrupting the passive experience of viewing in museums.