Overview

Excellent accessibility, much thought has gone into all aspects of access.

Transport & Parking

The Museum is quite near King's Cross Station, which is step-free.

Access

Very nearly full marks. Wheelchair access into and throughout the museum. A platform lift to the mezzanine level felt shaky and ramshackle, as though it might break down any time. The lift to the upper floor was good. A virtual video tour of the real canal boat is provided for those who can't get inside it - very thoughtful! The permanently running films have subtitles for the hearing impaired. Braille notices direct visually impaired users to audio content on numerous topics about the canals (see my photo)

Toilets

There is a good accessible toilet but it has a major flaw: the red emergency cord ends well over a metre above the ground. This is useless for the very situations it's designed for, namely when someone doing the precarious transfer from wheelchair to toilet falls to the floor and is injured. The cord should reach all the way to the floor. Astonishing that, in a museum where accessibility has been thought through so well, this detail has been messed up.

Staff

Lovely friendly staff who bend over backwards to be helpful, and are happy to chat at length about all canal matters.

Photos

Venue Manager responded to this review

Thank you for the review. The point about the length of the cord on the alarm in the toilet is one that we had not considered before but this is easily fixed at the cord has now been lengthened to floor level. Rest assured that there is nothing wrong with the lift, it is maintained regularly and is in good condition. It rarely breaks down.