HomePart 1 of Inclusive Exhibition Design Toolkit
Our design vision
Being Human object labels, Thomas S.G. Farnetti. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
This is Wellcome Collection’s toolkit to help project teams make exhibitions that are inclusive and accessible. We have developed these guidelines in consultation with D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people with diverse lives, perspectives and experiences.
We see inclusion as an opportunity for creativity and innovation, an opportunity to commission bold and beautiful design that creates a positive experience for all our visitors. We want to work with designers who take the same view.
This toolkit has been developed in the context of our Strategic Direction for Access, Diversity and Inclusion. It has been informed by consulting on prototype designs, evaluating completed exhibitions and learning through feedback.
Strategic Direction for Access, Diversity and Inclusion
We’ll keep developing it as we learn more, and we offer it for use by anyone who might find it helpful. If you have any comments for how it might be improved, please contact us:
Inclusive Design Team
What we mean by ‘inclusive design’
- Creates a welcoming and positive experience for all
- Is consistent, but not uniform
- Enables independence
- Is intuitive to use
- Offers choice and flexibility
- Is informed by consultation, lived experience and empathy rather than assumptions about preferences and needs
- Is underpinned by the social model of disability
Our design process
Responsibility for access and inclusion is shared by all.
We want everyone in our exhibition project teams to be motivated to advocate for inclusive design throughout the design and development process.
Consultation
When considering a design solution or content proposal that is new to us, we will prototype and consult with D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people.
Consultation can benefit every stage of exhibition design, and we encourage project teams to build it into their process, especially when developing new or innovative design solutions.
Our exhibitions are aimed at a 14+ audience. We have developed our design guidelines with this audience in mind.
Measuring success
At stages of design that require sign-off, we always assess accessibility and inclusivity (as specified in these guidelines), alongside curatorial vision, object care, and health and safety.
When an exhibition is open, we regularly consult D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people to ensure that designs are well realised and that the complete experience is inclusive.
Throughout an exhibition’s run we also analyse visitor comments (seen on social media, directly offered or solicited by our staff). This feedback is wrapped into the project’s evaluation and fed back into these guidelines and our project development process.
