This museum is accessible. But is it usable?
A reflection for people working, volunteering and running museums. Museums often say they are accessible because the basics are in place. But usable is something more.
Blog
Blog from the path, not the committee room
Thoughts, stories and practical reflections on disabled access, inclusion and everyday experience.
You’re Doing More Than You Think
A practical and reassuring note for small, volunteer run museums. Small museums often work with limited time, limited budget, and a great deal of goodwill.
Please Don’t Ask Me for a Checklist
Why a checklist can only take you so far, and why what really matters is how a place feels when someone arrives. A checklist can tell you whether something exists. It cannot tell you whether it works.
The Moment a Visitor Switches Off
Why experiences rarely break in one big moment, and why the small losses of confidence, context and belonging matter so much. You arrive somewhere new. The welcome is warm. The space looks promising. And then something small happens.
What Makes a Thoughtful Review?
What makes a meaningful disabled access review, and why stars are only the flavour, not the whole meal. A thoughtful review is not a verdict. It is a picture of what it was really like to be there.
Accessible Is Not the Same as Usable
Why getting in is only the start, and why good access should still feel like taking part. A place can technically let you in and still make the whole experience awkward, tiring or second best.
Ten Years On, and Still Being Talked About
A reflection on why Disabled Access Day still comes up in conversation a decade after it launched. Every so often, Disabled Access Day appears again, not as a relic, but as an idea people still find useful.
Accessible for Who?
A simple question that opens up a much more honest conversation about access, difference and real life. One pedestrian crossing. Two disabled people. Two completely different experiences of the same design.
The Mythical Unicorn of Accessibility
Why “fully accessible” sounds reassuring, but rarely survives contact with real people and real life. There is often a quiet eyebrow raise when a venue, event or website claims to be fully accessible.
Who’s the Customer Here Then
A cheeky look at mistaken identity, invisible assumptions, and the fine art of buying your own scone. A cheeky look at what happens when disabled people are spoken about, not spoken to, even while buying their own lunch.
A Dram and a Proper Loo
Why accessible facilities matter just as much as the scenery, the story, and the whisky. A Highland distillery, a warm welcome, and a reminder that accessible facilities can shape whether a great day out is possible at all.
More Than One Thing
Why disability should never erase everything else that makes someone who they are. As Pride Month begins, this post asks what happens when disability takes up all the room and other identities quietly disappear from view.
The Warm Welcome
Why people, tone and attitude can matter just as much as the physical access. Accessibility is not just about ramps and loos. It is also about how people welcome you, respond to you, and whether you feel like you belong.
The Spoon Drawer
A simple way to explain energy, fatigue and the quiet maths of daily life. A gentle guide to spoons theory and why energy management, pacing and changing plans are part of everyday life for many disabled people.
Why Blindly Wheeling?
The origin of Blindly Wheeling At first glance, it sounds a bit odd. Maybe even a little reckless. The sort of thing you might say just before heading off in entirely the wrong direction.
Can I Even Get Through the Door?
The simple questions that shape every visit before it begins. For many disabled people, planning a visit starts long before the front door, with practical questions about parking, step free routes and whether the accessible toilet will actually be accessible.
It’s Not Just Me. It’s the World.
Rethinking disability, language, and where the real barriers sit. Sometimes a phrase sounds harmless until you stop and notice where it places the burden.
The Little Things That Make a Day
Why the smallest details often become the biggest highlights. Sometimes it is not the famous view or the big ticket exhibit that stays with us, but the smaller details that quietly say a place has thought things through.
What accessible tourism really looks like in practice
Real visits, practical detail and the difference between good intentions and a good experience Accessibility often looks very tidy on paper. In practice, it can be a little more lumpy round the edges.
Why accessible route signs often fail in real life
Wayfinding, confidence and the small promises a place really ought to keep There is something particularly irritating about a sign that sounds reassuring but leads you into a muddle.