Access
The means through which visitors can enter, connect with, understand, learn about, enjoy and participate in a museum’s collections and related programming. Museums constantly work to reduce social, economic and physical barriers that prevent access.
Physical Accessibility
The provision of facilities so those with limited mobility can gain entry to a museum’s collections, exhibitions and events. Examples include the installation of lifts and ramps.
Intellectual Accessibility
The ease with which various groups can view/understand exhibits and the information displayed to explain or describe collections, rooms or displays. Wall signage is used to direct all visitors around the Museum. Age appropriate activity sheets are provided to help children interpret objects.
Historic buildings like the Custom House were not built with accessibility in mind. The renovations carried out in 1996 helped to make the building more physically accessible. There are also facilities in place across the exhibition to aid with intellectual accessibility.
The double doors into the Captains’ Room ensure the room is accessible to those in wheelchairs. However, they were originally made this way to accommodate the wide dresses ladies wore in the 18th Century!
Two lifts were installed during the 1996 renovation work. This helps those with limited mobility to access the galleries, café and bathrooms which are located on different levels of the building.
Six objects have Irish Sign Language (ISL) tours that you can access by scanning a QR code. The videos are subtitled and have a voice-over making them accessible to a wide variety of audiences both within and outside the deaf community. Extra information in large print is available for those with visual impairments.