WORCESTER Museum and Art Gallery will be taking steps towards making the city a more inclusive place to live by creating a British Sign Language-interpreted tour of the Paint the Streets exhibition.
The museum is working with Green city councillor Hannah Cooper on the project, who is helping to fund a Deaf awareness training session for front-facing staff.
One in five people in the UK are Deaf or have some form of hearing loss, yet the staff at the museum and art gallery do not have the appropriate training to help visitors enjoy the visit as much as possible.
Coun Cooper used to work for Action Deafness, a charity to help ensure people with hearing issues lead full, independent lives.
She said she was told by one of her, residents, who is a Deaf British Sign Language user, he couldn’t access any of the Worcester Festival because none of the events were in BSL.
She said: “While it’s important to note that the museum staff won’t be fluent in BSL, as it is a beautiful and complex language with a whole different grammar structure, the training will go a long way to make the exhibition more inclusive for those who use BSL.
“Ensuring everyone can take advantage of the great events and guides at Worcester City Museum is a huge step in making Worcester a truly inclusive city.”
