Accessibility statement for the Museums Association

We want our work to be accessible to everyone who works in and with museums. This statement applies to the Museums Association’s website, documents, online and in-person events, and office space. It was published on 10 February 2023 and last reviewed on 19 March 2024.

Website

This website is run by the Museums Association. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. We have made the website text as simple as possible to understand and we have tried to ensure that content is optimised for a range of accessibility devices and programmes.

For example, that means you should be able to:

Zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
Navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
Navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
Listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

Our website is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, where it has been possible and not an excessive or disproportionate burden.

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

Some of our older videos may not have captions
Our online forms are held externally to the website and may be difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
Our online learning programmes use a plug-in platform and may be difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
Some of our older PDF and Word documents may not be fully accessible to screen reader software (see ‘Documents’ section below)

If you would like to discuss the accessibility of our website, please contact Francesca Collins, website and digital officer, via francesca@museumsassociation.org.

Documents

We endeavour to ensure that our Word documents or PDFs meet accessibility standards, and we are confident that most of the documents you will find or receive while engaging with the MA are accessible.

However, we cannot guarantee that all old Word documents and PDFs are accessible. Should you require a plain text or accessible version of any MA document, please contact Francesca Collins, website and digital officer, via francesca@museumsassociation.org.

Online events

We will endeavour to make our online events as accessible as possible for all attendees by:

Providing closed captioning for all events taking place on Zoom
Asking speakers to provide an audio description of themselves and their slides
Taking regular scheduled breaks
Endeavouring to make slides available in advance by request to events@museumsassociation.org – slides may also be available after the event (this is at speakers’ discretion)
Recording events so you can watch them again at any time
Saving the meeting chat transcript where possible
Offering a number of free places at events for those who face barriers to inclusion

If you require someone to attend this event with you to provide support (for example, British Sign Language or audio description), then please let us know by emailing events@museumsassociations.org.

We will provide detailed joining instructions to delegates so they know what to expect from the event and the digital platform. If you prefer to discuss these with a member of staff then please get in contact by emailing events@museumsassociation.org.

In most cases, delegates will ask questions via the chat function of Zoom. We appreciate that the chat is not screen-reader accessible, and we will provide alternative ways for people to ask questions at all events.

Should you wish to discuss further accommodations with us, please get in touch with events@museumsassociation.org.

Please note that our Code of Conduct applies to all MA events, which was created to ensure our spaces are safe, welcoming and inclusive.

In-person events

We will endeavour to make our in-person events as accessible as possible for all attendees. In the first instance, please refer to the venue and access information provided for each event on the event’s website page. You can also refer to the websites of individual event venues for more information about venue-specific accessibility. We will make in-person events accessible by:

Taking regular scheduled breaks
Providing a quiet rest space for those who need to access one (where possible)
Briefing speakers to ensure any shared slides follow good accessibility guidance, based on advice from VocalEyes
Endeavouring to make slides available in advance by request to events@museumsassociation.org – slides may also be available after the event (this is at speakers’ discretion)
Offering a number of free places at events for those who face barriers to inclusion
Welcoming assistance dogs at our events – please let us know in advance so we can ensure they are fully accommodated
Automatically reserving accessible seating for delegates that require it (this will vary depending on the venue). It is helpful to know in advance if you do need accessible seating, so please email events@museumsassocation.org and let us know how we can help

If you require someone to attend this event with you to provide support (for example, British Sign Language or audio description), then please let us know by emailing events@museumsassociations.org.

We will provide detailed joining instructions to delegates so they know what to expect from the event and the venue. If you prefer to discuss these with a member of staff then please get in contact by emailing events@museumsassociation.org.

Should you wish to discuss further accommodations with us, please get in touch with events@museumsassociation.org.

Please note that our Code of Conduct applies to all MA events, which was created to ensure our spaces are safe, welcoming and inclusive.

Visiting us in person

The MA office building is not fully accessible due to its physical layout. To compensate for this we will make reasonable adjustments to ensure there is no adverse impact on staff or visitors with accessibility requirements, including:

Holding meetings online
Facilitating working from home
Where in-person meetings may be required or desirable, sourcing suitable venues which are accessible in relation to both location and facilities

Should you wish to discuss further accommodations with us, please get in touch with info@museumsassociation.org.

How we’re improving accessibility

We regularly review our website content in partnership with our web developer to ensure that as much of our content as possible meets up-to-date accessibility standards.

Our Inclusion Working Group of staff meets at least four times per year to discuss plans for future improvements to our accessibility both online and as an organisation. We also seek feedback in our annual members’ survey.

Feedback and contact information

If you need information on this website in a different format, please contact Francesca Collins, website and digital officer, via francesca@museumsassociation.org.

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact Francesca Collins, website and digital officer, using the email listed above.

You can get in touch with us via the details on our contact us page.