The accessibility of museums and galleries in Liverpool

I was in Liverpool for one overnight stay and in that time I went to 2 museums and a gallery; The World of Glass, Walker Art Gallery and World Museum. I tried to gather as much accessibility information as I could, rather than focusing on the things that would benefit me.

Earlier this month I worked with AccessAble, in collaboration with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, to have a paid trip in Liverpool. Part of that work was to review the accessibility of Liverpool’s transport, hotel and museums. This blog post is not part of that paid work, but they did pay for travel, accommodation and entry to the exhibitions. All thoughts within this blog post are my own.

How accessible did I find Liverpool?

On the whole, I found the city accessible as someone who’s a guide dog owner and has a physical disability. I was particularly impressed with Liverpool Lime Street station as they have a tactile map and audio description in the accessible bathroom. All the train stations I went to had lifts and clear signposting.

The World of Glass

The first place I went to was The World of Glass. This is in St Helens, which is only a short train ride away from the centre of Liverpool. It was easy to find and about a 10 minute walk from St Helens train station.

Before the visit I looked on their website for accessibility information, unfortunately they didn’t have any. I did use their contact form to get this information and they got to me within 2 days which I thought was really good!

It’s free entry, but the glass blowing demonstration is £5 for adults and £3.50 for children. It is an hour long which I think is good value for money. They also offer free carers tickets to disabled customers.

I cannot fault the physical accessibility of this venue. They had plenty of seats, a lift to all parts and an accessible bathroom. They also had closed captions on their videos.

My favourite part was the glass blowing demonstration. She explained everything clearly and passed around pieces of glass at various stages of the process which allowed for a tactile experience. It was really engaging and I learnt a lot.

However, they did not have accessible information for blind or visually impaired visitors within the exhibits. None of the text was available in large print or audio formats and some parts relied on using a touch screen with small text. In one exhibition, they had audio playing which told a story, this was helpful but did not give you the full experience.

The cafe had lots of tables and a wide variety of food. We stopped for a coffee and cake as the kitchen had closed, but I think this was due to the snow at the time! They also brought water for my guide dog which is always a bonus.

Overall, I think it would be suitable for most people, but having the information on their website would allow disabled visitors to know more before they arrive.

Walker Art Gallery 

The second place we went was the Walker Art Gallery. This is in the centre of Liverpool and can be accessed via a set of stairs or a ramp. It is free entry for everyone, with the ask that people make donations.

They had loads of accessibility information on their website which instantly put me at ease. It was great to see how they would support various types of disabilities as well. Guide dogs have a legal right to enter, but seeing it on a venues website is always reassuring.

Walker Art Gallery access and facilities

In terms of the general building, it was physically accessible with lifts and a small accessible toilet. However I did find the doors between the galleries heavy and hard to open. If you’re a wheelchair user who is attending by yourself, you might struggle to open these doors.

It was great that all the videos had closed captions and that stools were available throughout the venue. The videos often had headsets that you’d wear. I found this a lot easier to focus, rather than the videos all playing at the same time.

We went to the Conversations exhibit. This exhibition is bringing together work by around 40 leading Black women and non-binary artists. It was great to have a large print guide and ear defenders available. One element of the exhibition was very loud, but you can go a different route to avoid this. The art work was modern and powerful.

Overall I enjoyed my time here and could have spent longer looking around. It would have been great to have large print available throughout the gallery, not just the one exhibition.

World Museum

Finally we had a quick look in the World Museum before traveling home. This is just down the road from Walker Art Gallery and there’s a level access entrance available. Due to time we were unable to view all of the sections.

Again, they had a lot of accessibility information on their website. This includes accessible inclusion days where they offer more accommodations, so more visitors can enjoy the space. The venue had a Changing Places toilet which was amazing to see, they also had accessible toilets on most floors.

World Museum access and facilities

There were plenty of lifts. Considering the size of the World Museum it’s a must. Across 6 different floors the museum included so many different topics.

It’s free entry to most of the museum, with donations being welcome. You have to pay for some exhibitions. However, discounted tickets are available to disabled customers and carers. We got tickets to the Bees: A Story of Survival exhibition which was so interesting!

This exhibition did have a large print guide and included tactile and audio elements throughout. You also could scan a QR code to get an audio description of the space. This is particularly great as it was beautiful. You find yourself in a hive as you learn about the life of a bee, what’s not to love! One thing to point out, this exhibit does have low lighting which might cause a problem for some people, but it was level access and staff were really helpful.

Overall, I really enjoyed this museum and it would have been great to check out more sections. I’m unsure what the accessibility is like, but I’m confident it would have been good based on their online information.

Final thoughts

I had no idea that Liverpool had so many museum and galleries, these are only a fraction of what they have to offer.

Despite it being accessible enough for me, certain improvements would make it accessible to all. I wish the large print guides were in a larger font and were available in every exhibit. Also, the museums could have the information in Braille as well.

Next time I’m in Liverpool I’d love to check out the Museum of Liverpool and Sudley House. But this was more than enough for one weekend!

If you’ve ever visited Liverpool and have more information about the accessibility, please leave it in the comments below.

~ Chloe x