Disability-led charity chosen to develop accessibility standards

A set of sector-wide standards for theatres, galleries, museums, libraries and other creative organisations will be established by disability-led charity Attitude is Everything as part of a forthcoming UK-wide access scheme for creativity and culture.

The All In scheme, which is being developed by Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales and Creative Scotland, aims to remove the barriers faced by D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people when booking and attending creative and cultural events.

Attitude is Everything, a member of the National Portfolio as an Investment Principles Support Organisation, will be responsible for developing a set of sector-wide standards for organisations that sign up for the scheme. 

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A pilot of All In is set to launch by the end of the year, ahead of a national roll-out in 2025. The scheme will build on the work and success of Hynt – an existing access card scheme for theatres and arts centres in Wales.

Attitude is Everything will initially focus on four areas of work: improving the built environment in and around venues to provide better access; making digital communication with disabled audiences more accessible, usable and inclusive; working with customer services so that venues and events give a warm welcome to everyone; and building in access to commissions, events and programming at the ideas, budgeting and development stages.

Andrew Miller MBE, UK Arts Access Champion for All In said the accessibility standards will provide the sector with a baseline in excellence for meeting the needs of disabled people, adding that it will cover everything from content warnings to appropriate language and expectations around physical access. 

"Through our standards, we are aiming for a consistency of quality in access and customer service that I believe will be a game changer for both disabled audiences and the cultural sector. Attitude is Everything have significant credibility in this field, and I welcome their experience at this crucial stage of development for All In,” he said. 

'Groundbreaking project'

Celia Makin-Bell, Managing Director of Attitude is Everything, said: "This is a truly groundbreaking project to support the creative and cultural sector to provide accessible experiences that disabled consumers can trust and enjoy free of disabling barriers. 

"Attitude is Everything has been supporting the UK's music and live events sector since 2000 as a disabled-led charity, so this project enables us to lend our supportive ethos, solutions-based approach and wealth of experience to the wider sector. We look forward to working with the four nation Arts Councils, industry stakeholders and disabled people over the year ahead on this exciting scheme." 

Plans to create a UK-wide access card scheme were the only cultural element of the government’s National Disability Strategy published in August 2021 and had been scheduled to launch in March 2022.