Case Study: Leeds Industrial Museum

What were the aims of this activity?

• Support Leeds Industrial Museum to increase accessibility for neurodivergent staff and visitors,

• Try out new ways of working to support the sector with accessibility.

Summary of the areas covered

• Website information,

• Interpretation,

• Navigation and Signage,

• Seating,

• Gallery spaces,

• Access Resources.

Leeds Industrial Museum have been proactive in making changes throughout the course of the project, including a review of the colour contrast on signage and seating in the museum.

What activity did Emily complete?

Emily explored the museum both independently and with several members of staff. This included both the gallery spaces, outdoor areas, and office spaces.

During the site visits, open conversations were had about the accessibility of the site. Several members of staff shared their own experiences of what they identified in terms of access.

Emily created a visual story for the site that can go onto the Leeds Industrial Museum website. 

Emily also reviewed the information available to visitors about access on the website across the eight Leeds Museums sites as well as Leeds Industrial Museum specifically. 

Emily provided feedback continually to the site and changes to improve access were made even whilst the project was in progress. 

What are the next steps following this work?

• An Accessibility report has been provided, highlighting areas such as adding a visual story to the website and including the access maps in all galleries,

• Access report to support the Museum’s Action Plan,

• Option of working with Emily on access longer term outside of this project.

Leeds Industrial Museum have included access maps (like the one pictured above) into their temporary exhibitions to help set expectations of the space and provide any content warnings.

Were there any specific challenges with this work?

• Availability of some teams meant that not all aspects of the museum could be covered during the project.

• There wasn’t a strong understanding from all members of staff of what it means to work with someone with lived experience which led to initial challenges. These were resolved by the Keeper and Learning and Access Manager.

• There was initial response was claiming to be fully accessible.

What was the most successful part of this work?

• Following Emily’s feedback, quick wins were implemented, including updating information on the website around access.

• Building collaborative conversations around accessibility.

What are the key takeaways and learnings from this case study?

• The importance of being honest about what you can and can’t do around accessibility.

• There are some really simple, quick things you can do to improve access.

• The importance of being flexible and thinking in advance about what you could do in certain situations to improve access.

• The importance of listening to your team and working on access in a collaborative way.

Whilst there isn’t capacity for a quiet room inside the museum, the site does have The Colour Garden which is an ideal space to use to regulate.

Testimonial from Leeds Industrial Museum

"Working with Emily at Leeds Industrial Museum has been a pleasure, and this work will benefit both visitors and staff at the museum. Emily has worked in inclusive and positive ways to investigate and help improve access issues at the site, and for potential visitors when accessing information online. Emily was pragmatic in the face of current financial challenges but also clearly aims for high standards, which feels an excellent way of working. I would like to personally thank Emily for patience and professionalism, and for bringing fresh perspectives to how people can engage more fully with our venue, and on their own terms. We have a way to go, but with Emily’s help will be able to make improvements to access. Thank you Emily!"

Chris Sharp, Keeper LIM. 

Date of work completed: June - August 2025