Digital Shift Benefits Disabled Museum Workers in England, Study Reveals

A recent study examining English museums' engagement with disabled individuals found that the pandemic-driven move to virtual platforms has provided advantages for disabled museum employees. The research, titled Curating for Change: Disabled People Leading in Museums and conducted by the disability program Accentuate, involved disability workshops and surveys with 170 groups and individuals, including partner institutions like the Imperial War Museum and the Museum of Liverpool. Respondents highlighted the flexibility of remote work and new online engagement methods as accessibility improvements for disabled staff. The report also notes an increased institutional desire to better understand recruiting disabled personnel. Many surveyed disabled people expressed a wish for improved representation within museum collections, exhibitions, and events, alongside opportunities to create such content. In November, ArtReview featured the disabled artists' collective manifesto Not Going Back To Normal, with Edinburgh-based writer and performer Harry Josephine Giles commenting on the financial challenges disabled artists face and advocating for arts funding that prioritizes grassroots work. The study warns of risks if institutions fail to maintain these changes, emphasizing benefits for D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent people through digital working methods.