Accessibility in museums: an investment that creates the future
by Ludovico Solima
In the evolutionary framework outlined by the new ICOM definition of museum and the Faro Convention, the contemporary museum increasingly positions itself as a social actor, therefore responsible (also) for the construction of public value and the promotion of the cultural rights of communities. This means that accessibility – and thus the actions and initiatives aimed at improving the experience of visitors with sensory, cognitive, motor, or temporary disabilities – in this scenario no longer represents a set of technical measures, but an unavoidable principle that guides the museum’s institutional mission and the quality of relationships with the territory of belonging.
In this new perspective, accessibility therefore becomes a structural component of the economic and social sustainability of the museum, capable of connecting heritage, people, and civic responsibility in a single integrated vision.
Accessibility policies do not in fact simply remove economic, physical, sensory or cognitive barriers: they build proximity; in other words, the concept of 'relational accessibility' emerges strongly, understood as the museum’s ability to create relationships of trust with proximity areas and to promote forms of participation that provide visitors – with or without disabilities – with a full experience of meaning.
In recent years, particular attention has also been devoted to the sensory-perceptual dimension of the museum visit, understood as the meeting between people, objects, and narratives. Accessibility fits fully into this vision: a museum that builds tactile, sound, visual or multimodal experiences does not only respond to functional needs, but significantly expands the narrative potential of heritage. Inclusive mediation – from tactile paths to guides in easy-to-read language, from audio descriptions to immersive solutions – enriches the museum narrative, making it deeper and more suitable for diverse audiences.
Technology, in this sense, does not represent an end, but a precious tool, a real 'enabler of meaning'. The integration of accessible digital tools – inclusive apps, augmented reality, automatic subtitling, 3D reconstructions supporting tactility – proves fully effective only when it is part of a coherent digital strategy, which cannot proceed independently from the cultural mission and internal participatory processes of the museum. It is therefore quite clear that accessible technologies act as impact multipliers when designed participatively, with user involvement.
This perspective broadens the very notion of economic sustainability. Accessible interventions, in fact, produce measurable returns: they expand the audience base, increase the duration and quality of the visit experience, strengthen the museum’s reputation and activate new educational and social partnerships. Accessibility thus becomes a determining component of the public value generated by the museum.
It should be noted that the economic sustainability of accessibility is often underestimated: an investment in accessibility is sometimes seen as an unavoidable cost. On the contrary, a mature managerial reading of the phenomenon shows how these interventions generate value in the medium to long term, along at least three lines of impact:
- Revenue increase and loyalty
Dedicated offers, inclusive educational activities, workshops for schools and specialized centers help to intercept new audiences. Families and school groups – especially those with special educational needs – then show a greater propensity to return to museums able to guarantee an inclusive, understandable and welcoming environment. - Strengthening institutional positioning
A museum recognized as accessible increases its social reputation and thus strengthens relationships with its stakeholders, more easily attracts sponsors, third sector partners, foundations and donors sensitive to social impact issues; reputation, in this perspective, becomes a capital of the museum. - Organizational efficiency and quality of internal processes
Accessibility, if well designed, results in clearer information, improved flows, higher quality internal services; in other words: what is accessible tends to be also more efficient.
A significant part of the developed reflections therefore helps to understand that accessibility must be read as an organizational innovation. It should not be considered as an isolated project, nor as if it were a set of 'added' solutions later, but it should rather be understood as an orientation that affects governance, processes, skills, and institutional culture. The accessible museum is not only the one that multiplies services, but rather the one that assumes accessibility as a guiding criterion for all its choices.
This approach therefore requires:
- a strategic planning, which includes accessibility among the mandate’s objectives;
- a governance capable of listening, involving and making users co-responsible;
- a continuous staff training, to ensure awareness and consistency;
- a system of evaluation and accountability, which measures quantitative and qualitative impacts, communicating them transparently.
Finally, it should be emphasized that accessibility produces profound effects also on the level of social sustainability, contributing to the construction of a broader cultural citizenship and reducing inequalities in access to knowledge, in line with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda (in particular, SDGs 4, 10 and 11). Numerous experiences clearly show how accessible museums are able to perform a function of ‘cultural care’: places where differences are not only tolerated, but recognized and valued as part of the collective experience.
The social impact is therefore multiple: increase in audiences, longer visiting times, loyalty of specific demand categories, greater community participation, strengthening of the sense of belonging, support for educational processes, individual and relational well-being. Accessibility, in this perspective, is therefore a practice of cultural equity.
In conclusion, accessibility represents one of the most fertile grounds to rethink the public role of museums. It is economically sustainable because it generates value; it is socially sustainable because it expands cultural citizenship; it is strategic because it helps define a museum model oriented towards the quality of relationships, project continuity and the construction of trust.
And therefore, accessibility is not a cost to justify, but an investment that produces the future.