VocalEyes, in partnership with Stagetext, Autism in Museums and the Centre for Accessible Environments, recently publish the Heritage Access report 2022 which highlights the importance of online access information for the UK museum and heritage sector, and tracks the changes in the state of access over the past four years since the publication of the 2018 report.

The report is structured to mirror the visitor journey, covering aspects from pre-visit research such as finding and getting to a venue (such as directions, parking and step-free and level access), aids and facilities at the venue (such as toilets, lifts, Large Print guides, induction loops) and downloadable resources that can be used at the venue (such as sensory maps and visual stories).

The report also breaks down the different media types in which web content is presented, and gives clear, non-technical guidance on how to ensure that text, links, images, video, audio, and downloadable documents are all accessible. It also covers tips for inclusive communication with visitors.

VocalEyes also launched the Heritage Access 2022 benchmark tool, an online search and map interface where you can find the benchmark score for the access information provided by the 2,258 UK museums and heritage sites covered by the project.

RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey was joined by Catrin Podgorski, VocalEyes heritage Access Project and Volunteer Manager of the Heritage Access Report and Vidya Nathan, one of the Visually Impaired Digital Heritage Access Report Volunteers to share some of the findings of the 2002 report.

Catrin explained to Toby about the background to the heritage Access Report, some of the changes and improvements in online access information since the 2018 report, why VocalEyes wanted to recruit a remote online community of digital research volunteers including blind and partially sighted people along with other volunteers with a wide range of backgrounds and disabilities. 

Vidya told Toby why, as a visually impaired person, she wanted to get involved in the research as one of the digital research volunteers, why it was so good to be part of the online community of volunteers, some stand out points from the research for her as a visually impaired person and what we can all do as blind and partially sighted people to help improve both the online access information on museums, galleries and heritage sites websites and their access offer for us all too.

(Image shows the VocalEyes logo. A speech bubble with 'VOCALEYES' written in bold black letters next to it)