Overview

There are five floors of exhibits to see with a range of Topics from Animal World on level One to Ancient Egypt on Level Five. There is lots to see and do enough to spend an entire day there. Overall I had a positive experience for a free attraction. I would definitely visit again but outside of the school holidays as it was extremely busy.

Transport & Parking

We drove in and managed to be able to get parked across from the museum on Chambers Street with my blue badge in a normal pay and display bay as all of the disabled bays were full even at just after 11am.

Access

I did find that some areas become bottlenecked due to the layout of some of the exhibits, This also meant that when I was trying to look at some exhibits more closely I was being frequently bumped into by other visitors especially those located around the centre Gallery/Atrium. Only one lift was working during the school holidays was adding to congestion at the landing areas on each floor due to both those with disabilities and parents with buggies having to use just one main lift to get between the different floors. The Large Print Guides that I did stumble upon were basic and also only the front page appeared to be actually in large print the rest of the guide I estimate was maybe be size 14 font 16 at a push and the binding was all falling apart. Furthermore, the large print guide was entirely absent from the communication exhibit rather ironically.

Toilets

I only used standard accessible toilet on this occasion either level 3/4 I am unsure of which level it was on just it was near one of the clocks and a picnic area due to being deaf blind I was unable able to read the map to find the changing places toilet , which I could have benefited from as someone who has continence needs I frequently use the changing bench so I don’t have to try and balance whilst changing my pad as the museum map is not offered in large print. I managed to make the standard accessible toilet work on this occasion but feel I would struggle in my wheelchair and would definitely need to use the changing places toilet. Toilet was clean and tidy though.

Staff

The staff on the main desk definitely need further training on accessibility especially in regards to hearing or vision impairments when I enquired as to whether their was a large print museum map or Audio Guide available was told no neither available and was just told to scan a QR code , thankfully I had my support worker with me to guide me as the QR code which just provides a digital copy of standard size print map. A super simple and affordable adjustment for the museum to implement would be to print some copies of the map on A3 paper as this would enlarge the map and laminate them so they would be able to be reused.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I am aware that a sensory map has been made that highlights quiet areas however especially during peak periods an actual quiet room would provide a space for those with both sensory impairments and autism a space to have a moment to decompress and process everything before going back into the exhibits. This can be as simple as an empty meeting room with some water and fresh air and seating.