Disability Essentials – making museums welcoming and inclusive
Disability Essentials is an eLearning programme that helps museum staff and volunteers ensure they are confidence and skilled in their engagement with disabled people.
The course is broken into 5 short eLearning modules that learners can work through using their own device and at their own pace. This flexibility is ideal for public-facing roles, like Front of House, who struggle to ‘leave their station’ to attend training.
The offer
South East Museum Development is now recruiting museums who would like to enrol up to 10 team members to undertake the Disability Essentials eLearning course for free.
Learners have until 31 March 2024 to complete the 5 eLearning modules, after which they will receive a Certificate.
To apply
Please complete this short online Expression of Interest form.
We assess applications fortnightly on a rolling basis until the spaces are claimed.
We will confirm your acceptance on the course by email within three weeks of your submission.
About the course
The course is designed by accessibility specialists, AccessAble and aligns to the ‘three facets of accessibility’ approach:
- Information: What you can find out about a space before you use it.
- Welcome: How a disabled person is supported on arrival.
- Space: How the space can be adapted to welcome the most amount of people.
The aim of this type of approach is to ensure that disabled people and carers can participate and contribute as a part of society rather than feel apart from society.
The training courses have been designed with accessibility in mind. The ReciteMe tool is available on the learning platform, and all videos are subtitled.
How to access the learning modules
Once you have received confirmation from us that your museum has been accepted onto the course, we will put you in touch with the team from AccessAble to set up your account which can take up to two weeks to complete. After that, your team members will be able to embark on their learning journey at their own pace, using their own device via a simple log in.
Learners can save and re-enter the modules where they left off. The modules are interactive, and use illustrations, videos, and pop quizzes to secure learning.
Learners have until 31 March 2024 to complete the modules and they will receive a Certificate upon completion of the course.
We ask participants to complete a short online questionnaire at the end of the course. This allows us to demonstrate the impact of our training programme and helps us to hone and improve our offer.
Partners
This training opportunity is coordinated by South East Museum Development and designed by AccessAble with funding support from Arts Council England.
This activity supports the ‘Cultural Community’ outcome and ‘Inclusivity and Relevance’ Investment Principle in the Arts Council’s Let’s Create Strategy.
Deadline for submitting your Expression of Interest
This is a rolling programme. We will assess applications fortnightly and award places on the course until our allocation is filled. The sooner you apply, the better the chance that you will be accepted onto the course.
South East Museum Development is funded by Arts Council England.
This question requires an answer
1. Museum Contact Details *
This question requires an answer
This question requires an answer
This question requires an answer
4. What are your museum’s current strengths in terms of accessibility and inclusion? *
This question requires an answer
5. Does your museum have an Equality/Equity Action Plan? *
This question requires an answer
6. Which areas of equity, diversity and inclusion have you identified as needing improvement? *
This question requires an answer
7. What do you hope to achieve by taking part in this project? *
This question requires an answer
8. Do you need assistance to take part in the project? Please tell us how we can support you. *
Participants are expected to take part in each stage of the project. Please review the ‘About the project’ section to ensure you have the capacity to commit to the project in full. If capacity is a concern, consider sharing the commitment with other colleagues.
9. Museums can nominate up to ten team members to take part in the training. You must provide the name and contact email of each team member below as AccessAble will need to create a unique log in for each learner. Each learner must have a unique email (i.e. they can't share an email address with another team member).
NOTE: If you can't identify all of your team members at this stage, you may submit another Expression of Interest at a later date, provided the total number of places you request doesn't exceed ten. We will not 'reserve' places for non-identified learners.
This question requires an answer
10. Provide the name and email of a senior manager/trustee who endorses your museum's involvement in this programme. *