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Arts organisations making access happen
Accessible Arts supports a range of arts organisations in their ongoing commitment to develop and strengthen accessibility. Maitland Regional Art Gallery, the Museum of Sydney and the Sydney Festival are among a growing number of organisations that are prioritising a culture of inclusion within their organisations and throughout the events and programs they present.
“Embedding accessibility into the culture of an organisation can happen in multiple ways,” Amanda Tink, Accessible Arts Training Coordinator explains. “Disability Awareness and Access Training offers the knowledge needed to improve access and Disability Action Plans offer practical ways of implementation, tailored to the goals an organisation is striving to achieve. Reviewing and refreshing both on a regular basis ensures accessibility is part of the core business of an organisation.”
On 25 July 2011, Maitland Regional Gallery hosted Disability Awareness and Access Training onsite. Amanda delivered the training to six staff from all levels of the organisation, exploring disability awareness topics including interacting with people with disability that attend the gallery. This commitment to training has been ongoing at the Gallery and outreach programs and access initiatives have been an outcome of active engagement in learning about disability and access.
The Museum of Sydney is also demonstrating active engagement prioritising the needs of people with disability, and offering professional development to staff to meet these needs. Accessible Arts presented training on the delivery of audio description of exhibitions for patrons who are blind or with low vision on 27 July 2011. Disability Awareness and Access training will also be available to staff later in the year, to refresh knowledge about accessibility delivered in 2008 by Accessible Arts.
Sydney Festival is another organisation that continues to implement accessibility on an ongoing basis with regular training and consultation from Accessible Arts. Significant work has been done in programming and marketing including large font and audio programs and being an affiliate of the NSW Companion Card. Currently the Festival is developing a Disability Action Plan through a process of reviewing what has been achieved over the last three years and utilising support and a connection with the disability sector through an ongoing relationship with Accessible Arts.
For more information about Disability Awareness & Access training and Disability Action Planning contact Amanda Tink , Accessible Arts Training Coordinator tel: 02 9251 6499 ext 106 or atink@aarts.net.au