Accessible Pasts, Equitable Futures Research Project

'Accessible Pasts, Equitable Futures' was an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project led by researcher Dr Ann-Marie Foster, supported at IWM by Dr Maria Castrillo Llamas, Head of Collections Access and Research. The project began in February 2024 and ended in March 2026.

The project explored how IWM’s digital collections could be made more accessible to disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent researchers. As the project progressed, we realised that we needed to also include collections that can only be accessed in the Research Room. As one quarter of people in the UK are disabled, and another fifth of the population are neurodivergent, this work represents a large and number of people who interact with IWM.

This project rested on the premise that the heritage industry is not doing enough to make digital cultural heritage accessible. Here at IWM we are committed to trying to understand what can be done to improve this, and incorporating the findings of this project into our future work.

What we produced

This project created a wide variety of internal documents for use within the museum which will help develop collections access. There are, in addition, a number of publicly available outputs aimed at GLAM sector professionals either already published or in the pipeline, from an information sheet for collections managers through to infographics about good collections access. We will be adding items to our Resource Hub, as they develop, for the next couple of years. You can find all of the project outputs at by following this link to the Accessible Pasts Equitable Futures Resource Hub.

As an offshoot of this work, Ann-Marie was also Co-Lead, and Imperial War Museums a partner, of the ‘Divergent Minds in the Archive’ project, funded by the UKRI and British Academy through the EDI Caucus. This project looked at the experience of neurodivergent professionals and users, trying to examine barriers to using archives and collections and rethinking how access can be provided. As part of this we developed a Neurodivergent Access Guide for IWM collections which you can access here. You can find the guide template, and all of our other public outputs to the project by following this link to the Divergent Minds in the Archive Resource Hub.

An access journey, titled ‘Good Access’ showing the elements of that such as a website coded to WCAG standards, a clear explanation of how the catalogue works, publicly available information for those with disabilities, step free access, supportive staff and adjustments within the research room to allow for overlayers, magnifiers and individually controlled lighting.

Image designed by Laura Broderick of Think Big Picture

Good Access: an access journey

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Transcript

An access journey, titled ‘Good Access’. A researcher looks at a collection website using a screen reader and other assistive aids. The website is coded to WCAG standards, and there is a clear explanation of how the catalogue works. The researcher needs to go into the Research Room to see some items, so contacts the booking system, which has disability information publicly available. On the day of the visit, they wake up, perhaps in pain, but go in. In an alternative timeline they have to cancel, and an understanding email is sent back. The researcher gets on the first bus to the Research Room, which has step-free access. A welcoming person at the desk explains how to use the locker system, and gives them a plastic bag to put items in. In the Research Room there is a height adjustable desk which accommodates the researcher’s wheelchair, individually controlled lighting, and other aids such as Bluetooth connectivity, magnifiers, colourful acetate overlays, and a sunflower lanyard. After the visit, the researcher gets the first bus home, with usable research, and a short recovery time from the energy expense of the day. Text at the bottom of the graphic reads ‘Accessible Pasts Equitable Futures 2024-2026 was an AHRC funded project which increased access to archives and collections for disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent users.

What we did

First we tried to understand what people were finding difficult around Collections Online. We ran a survey, where 650 people responding to a survey which ran through summer and autumn 2024. From this we gained really useful information about how we could make collections online more accessible, from BSL interpreted videos through to consistent alt-text.

Informed by the survey results, in spring and summer 2025 we ran a digital volunteering opportunity, where 38 newly recruited volunteers created access information such as alt-text, transcriptions, and even some audio descriptions for approx. 250 collections items. The volunteers were a wonderful group who not only produced excellent work but who were willing and eager participants in trying to work out how to best produce this data. Our thanks to each and every one of them.

Running alongside this work was the creation of IWM Collections’ first Disabled Focus Group, made up of people who used the collections for their research. The members were an invaluable source of knowledge and we cannot thank them enough for their generosity with time, critical feedback, and ideas on how to improve access.

These strands of public work were married with deep internal work, which included people from Digital Transformation teams through to Collections Access staff. Internally we looked at processes and created systems for slow change which could be supported at the museum. This work is ongoing and signals IWM’s commitment to continuing to think through issues of access, which, as we know, are an ever-evolving issue. We hope that this work will inspire others across the sector, and indeed we are indebted to people who have developed other access initiatives in their museums for being generous with their time. While access work is never truly ‘done’ we can collectively work towards incremental change to ensure that our collections are accessible, used, and enjoyed.

Who was involved?

Internally, this project was based in the Collections Access and Research team. Dr Maria Castrillo Llamas, Head of Collections Access and Research, acted as project mentor, and Daisy Urquhart, Research and Knowledge Exchange Officer, as support. This project engaged with colleagues from the Research Room, headed by Jane Rosen, Research Room Services Manager, with input from the Collections Access team Zoe Melabianaki, Kaili Smith, Charlotte Willsmore, Dominic Hewett, and Zipporah Blake-Gravesande.

Digital work was developed with Debbie Valentine, Head of Digital Experience and Insight. The volunteering part of this project was supported by Ali Thomas, Head of Volunteering, and especially by Callum Brogan, Digital Producer (AI & Crowdsourcing). Collections work was supported by Emily Dodd, Head of Collections Management, and her team. Andrew Davis, Collections Systems Manager, and Andrew Nielson, Collections System Officer, helped decide how to collect data from the digital volunteers. The survey was supported by Charlotte Rhoades, Head of Access and Inclusion, with input from Kate Thompson, Audience Insight Lead. The project was supported by an Advisory Board with internal and external members, who we thank for their time and critical feedback.