We are delighted to announce two funding awards supporting our research into inclusive museum interpretation and accessibility. The research brings together Dr Rafie Cecilia, Professor Dirk vom Lehn, and Dr Lucy Meechan at King’s College London, in collaboration with the Stuart Frost, Head of Interpretation at the British Museum, and Manchester Museum.

King’s SPARK Innovation Fund

We received £2500 from King’s College London’s SPARK Innovation Fund to investigate how blind, partially blind, and sighted visitors experience sculptures and accessible interpretive resources when visiting museums together.

Developed in collaboration with the British Museum, this exploratory project focuses on the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery (Room 4). Using video-based research, we examine how visitors interact with sculptures and resources such as audio description, tactile materials, and accessible information. We are interested in understanding how these resources support shared engagement, how visitors negotiate different sensory needs, and whether existing approaches to accessibility create unexpected barriers.

The project draws on the concept of Disability Gain, exploring how accessible interpretation developed for disabled visitors can enrich the museum experience for everyone. The findings will help identify opportunities for more inclusive approaches to sculpture interpretation and contribute to the British Museum’s ongoing work on accessibility.

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant

Building on the SPARK project, we have secured £9,882.90 from the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme for Inclusive Interpretation and Mixed-Ability Shared Engagement in Museum Sculpture Galleries.

This award enables us to expand our research to Manchester Museum, alongside the British Museum, and undertake a more extensive investigation of how visitors with different sensory abilities engage with sculptures together.

Using video-based ethnographic research, we will examine how sighted, blind, and partially sighted visitors interact with existing inclusive interpretive resources, including tactile materials, audio description, and haptic interfaces. The research will focus on how people move, touch, listen, communicate, and make sense of sculptures together, and how accessible resources shape these shared experiences.

By examining how accessibility works in practice, the project aims to generate evidence to inform museum accessibility strategies, exhibition design, and the development of more inclusive interpretation across the sector.