Inclusion and Accessibility for National Heritage Week events

One of the great things about National Heritage Week is that anyone can be an event organiser – whether a heritage newcomer, enthusiast, or expert, whether an individual, community group or organisation. And anyone can organise an inclusive and accessible event – it just takes a little bit of thought – and it’s much easier than you might think. There are just a few things you should consider. Here are our top tips:

Identify who’s missing from your audience: Think about who you would like to reach out to in your local area that you’re not already engaging with. If you’re holding your event in a public building such as a community centre, check who also uses that centre – does the local youth group meet there? What about older people? Does the local Men’s Sheds group meet there or the local bridge club? Are members of our new communities learning English there? Would they be interested in your event?

How can you get in touch with them: Once you have identified who you would like to engage with, and you know where they are based, the easiest thing is a personal invite – have a chat with the meeting organiser to see if you can drop into their meeting to tell them about your event (even better – have that chat over a cup of tea). This is a really good approach, as a personal invitation is meaningful and creates a stronger connection that can be the start of a longer-term relationship. It also gives you the opportunity to ask people how you could make your event more accessible for them.

Posters are another good option to reach out to a wide audience – the local supermarket, community centre, church, sports club, or library usually have community notice boards, or the local pub or coffee shop might allow you to put up a poster in their premises. Many residents’ associations have member-only Facebook pages or Whatsapp groups, or websites – ask if they will include a post for you.

If the groups you would like to invite have active social media accounts, you could also reach out via this means.

Think about accessibility: Accessibility is simply about making your event enjoyable for everyone. Think about the practicalities of the event and what might make it easier for people to attend. For example, is the language you’re using simple and accessible? Can you hold seats at the back of the event for neurodivergent people or those with other needs, allowing them to pop in and pop out as they need? How are the acoustics in the room? Can everybody hear the event? If acoustics are an issue, consider limiting the numbers so everyone in the room can year properly and have a good event. Can everyone see the speaker? It’s important also to think about the whole experience. For example, if you say your event is wheelchair accessible, does that include the surfacing of the car park and the toilets?

Tell everyone about it: Provide as much information ahead of time as possible so that people will know what to expect. Make detailed reference to accessibility – Is it step-free? How many can attend? Will there be seats, if so, how many? Will there be standing room? Can you easily get there using public transport? Is there parking? Will it be interpreted with Irish Sign Language? Is it vision-impaired friendly? Are support dogs welcome? Will it also be streamed online? Is there a digitised version etc.

Make sure also to select the relevant event features in the What’s On
section of the National Heritage Week website. People interested in attending National Heritage Week events will be able to easily filter accessible events here.

National Heritage Week is all about giving event organisers the confidence and know-how to take small steps to make events more enjoyable for all by making them accessible and inclusive. For further information, please contact: heritageweek@heritagecouncil.ie, putting ‘Inclusion and Accessibility’ in the subject line. Alternatively, we’d love to hear from you if you have any tips to share with us!