Accessiblity Centred

11/11/21

We can hardly believe it but in just one week’s time we will be installing our exhibition at Custom Lane gallery! So, now might be a good time to talk a bit about some of the features we’re trying out to make the exhibition more accessible, particularly for neurodivergent visitors.

Ear Defenders

The exhibition in in open plan building, sharing space with a busy cafe. Noise can be overstimulating, so for those who would benefit from them, we have six pairs of ear defenders to borrow

Quiet Evening

Places like cafes have plenty other sensory distractions – for instance the bustle of people, movement, vibrations and smells. Plus, there are some people who just prefer to go out at quieter times of day, avoiding commuters or crowds. So for folk who prefer a quieter environment, we’re running a special Quiet Evening on Tuesday 23rd November. It’s limited to small numbers to help people not to feel overwhelmed, and you’ll be able to wander around the exhibition with the cafe closed and quiet. If you’d like to visit during the quiet hour (actually 90 minutes!), we still have tickets left – book them here, for free: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neuk-collective-exhibition-quiet-eveningtuesday-23rd-november-tickets-184691857317

Communication Badges

Sometimes, you would like to be able to speak to someone, but maybe don’t know how to get things started, or who might welcome a chat. Other times you just want to be left alone! Communication badges make it easy to know who is up for a blether, and who isn’t, or to let people know, without hurt feelings, that you just don’t want to talk to strangers.

There are three colours of badge – Green, Yellow, and Red.

Green means that you are happy to chat with anyone

Yellow means that you would prefer just to chat with people you already know

Red means that you don’t want to be approached

We will have lanyards with coloured badges on them for you to borrow, if you would like to. Not everyone will want to use them, but for some folk, knowing they can wander round without worrying a stranger might talk to them can make a huge difference to their anxiety.

A drawing of a lanyard and badge, with green, yellow and red rectangles beneath it.

Audio Description

A lot of text can be intimidating! So, all our signage and labels will have a QR code you can scan with your phone to hear it read out

A drawing of a hand holding a smart phone, with a QR code on the screen. A speech bubble comes out of the phone, saying "AD".

Reading Aids

Having text on coloured paper can make a big difference to readability for folk who have Irlens, visual sensitivity, or dyslexia, but which colour is helpful is really personal. So rather than try to have materials printed out on every colour of paper, we’ve got coloured overlays in 11 colours for you to use with any of the printed material in the exhibition. We also have reading windows and line trackers which you’re welcome to use.

All our signage/label text is sans-serif, right-aligned, and no smaller than 14pt.

A drawing of 3 different coloured overlays, a reading window, and a line tracker.

The Chill Out Nook

Sometimes you just get a bit overwhelmed and need to have a quiet sit, away from overstimulation. So we’ve carved out a wee nook in the exhibition space, with some beanbags, cushions, and ear protectors, where you can go to calm down if you need it. No need to ask – just pop in! These signs will point the way:

Manifesto Formats

We want our message to be accessible to everyone! We are making the manifesto text available in 6 formats

Illustrated
Easy Read
Dyslexia Friendly – plain text, in larger font, with larger spacing
Audio – the text read out, accessed via QR code
BSL – accessed via QR code
Braille

We hope there will be something for everyone. If you need it in a different format, please do get in touch.

A set of 5 icons arranged in an arc. They show: a plain tet document, a figure reading a book that says "Easy Read", Braille, an ear hearing audio, and two hands signing with the label "BSL".

Wheelchair Access

Custom Lane is a wheelchair accessible venue, with a ramped entrance and accessible toilets in the cafe. The nearest Changing Places toilet is either in Wardieburn Community Centre or Edinburgh College’s Granton campus (approximately 10-15 minutes by car).

The door/aisle clearance is 120mm.

Improving access is a continuous process, as we learn more and get more experience. If you have any feedback about access at the show, we would love to hear it! Please send us an email at neukcollective@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you.

Hope to see you from Saturday 20th!