All visitors to the National Gallery of Ireland benefit from the Gallery's Access

Policy By Karin Bendixen

As Ireland has no legislation in the field of accessibility, it is all the more interesting that The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin has found it important and necessary to provide equal access for all visitors. In this interview, Marie Bourke, Keeper and Head of Education at the National Gallery of Ireland, tells Crisp & Clear about The National Gallery Access Policy, introduced in 1995. What this policy means in practice ranges from a beautifully designed lift, made of glass, to tactile pictures for visually impaired people and multimedia units and guided tours for hearing-impaired people. And the Gallery is still improving.

The Gallery's glass lift has been beautifully integrated in the circular stair turret. The control panel has tactile markings.

Commitment

Marie Bourke’s commitment to the issue comes over very clearly when she starts talking about the Gallery’s efforts to provide equal access for all the museum’s visitors to the Irish Gallery collection and to the collection of Old European Master Paintings from the fourteenth to the twentieth century, such as Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ, Lady Writing a Letter by Vermeer and The Liffey Swim by B. Yeats. (These pictures can also be "seen” in the Gallery’s Tactile Picture Set).

She says that the intention behind the Gallery’s Access Policy is quite simply "to provide equal access for all, meaning not just physical access, but also conceptual, intellectual and multisensory access", and goes on to declare that it is based on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 27) which states "that everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits".

In-House Research

"The government is implementing the report of the commission on the status of people with disabilities", says Marie Bourke. "As a VIP participant in this, the government has changed the way it provides services for people with disabilities through a new agency called the National Disability Authority".

For the Gallery it all started in 1995, she remembers. "There were two things to be initiated. One was to bring the museum’s facilities up to the required stage. The other was to improve the Gallery’s level of service to visitors. It was a new field for us, and we had to do our own research. And the amazing thing is, that once we had become aware of accessibility – well, we noticed it everywhere".

"We worked as a team: the Director Raymond Keaveney, the architect from the Office of Public Works Stephen Keane, the Assistant Director Brian Kennedy and myself. It has been an advantage to work with several people with different approaches to the task."

The Gallery started with an Open Forum in 1995 to which all the relevant organisations were invited and to discuss the issue of facilities and services for people with disabilities. They came up with new ideas and proposals for improvements based on their individual points of view. Following this the gallery contacted disabled individuals and organisations, asking them to complete a questionnaire to ascertain their views on a proposed range of services and facilities. 37 people and groups responded.

Marie Bourke told Crisp & Clear that all work related to accessibility relies on sponsorship and grants.


One of the two wheelchair platform lifts, nicely integrated by using brass, glass and wood.

Educating the staff

"One of the first things we did was to educate our staff: it is important that staff members feel confident and competent about responding to special needs", Marie Bourke underlines.

The staff must be able to provide assistance and give information to all visitors, no matter whether hearing, visually or cognitively impaired. To meet these requirements, the entire staff has undergone one week of training since 1995, which is continuously being updated.

There are actually two reasons for this training – one is to make sure that visitors with or without a disability feel comfortable and are content with the gallery, the other is to teach the staff to feel relaxed and confident in any given situation.

The Awareness Handbook

The Disability Awareness Handbook used by the staff in the course of their training introduces staff members to the terminology, provides examples of various types of problems facing people with various types of disabilities and explains how to anticipate problems: what to say – and what not to say. The book provides examples of myths and explodes them.

Among its other initiatives, the Gallery facilitates community needs by providing a number of events with public space. On this occasion, the Gallery opens its doors to the public and provides a host of art events, all free of charge.

Awards For Involvement

On arrival at The National Gallery’s information desk, the visitor may be supplied with an access guide. Available in English and in Irish, this guide illustrates the Gallery’s general physical accessibility and lists a number of other services which help make the visitor’s stay more enjoyable.

However, Marie Bourke is not too proud of the size of the lettering used for the text: at the moment it is much too small, but this will be changed in the next reprint.

When leaving the Gallery we notice a mother wheeling a pushchair up the ramp to The National Gallery of Ireland, while an elderly lady in black and red site reading a book on the stairs next to the ramp. These visitors represent part of the huge target audience which the Gallery would like to welcome.

The Gallery’s strong involvement in the community resulted in no less than three awards in 1999 to the Education Department. Tangible evidence that the National Gallery of Ireland lives up to its access policy concerning presentation of the arts for everyone in several ways.

The accessible work is a still in process: the new wing in Clare Street will be completely accessible, as is the historical building. In addition to which Marie Bourke still has some wishes for improvements: "I would love to have a permanent Access Officer who would provide ongoing programmes and events for people with disabilities. It would be wonderful to have courses that would enable people with disabilities to see themselves progress and improve and acquire knowledge of the national collection".

Marie Bourke, Keeper and Head of Education at the National Gallery of Ireland, sitting in front of the multimedia units. A young visitor is watching very carefully. There are seven units providing information on key paintings in the collection. One of the units is fitted with an induction loop.


Marie Bourke

Facts about the accessibility of the Gallery’s facilities and services:

• An Access Guide in addition to a guide in Braille
• Lifts to all levels and platform lifts for wheelchairs/prams
• Wheelchairs available on request
• One toilet for wheelchair users
• A low-set telephone located on the ground floor
• A lecture theatre and a multimedia unit equipped with induction loops
• Two tactile picture sets available
• Guided tours for hearing impaired and visually impaired people
• A disabled parking bay

Facts:

The government is implementing the report of the commission on the status of people with disabilities. As a VIP participant in this, the government has changed the way it provides services for people with disabilities through a new agency called the National Disability Authority.

Published in Crisp & Clear No. 2, July 2000