Welcoming Pontefract: accessibility at Pontefract Museum

Following on from our blog about how accessibility matters at Wakefield Museum, let's have a look at how we make Pontefract Museum welcoming and accessible for all! 

Pontefract Museum, a beautiful art nouveau building built in the early 1900s

We believe strongly that making our visitor experience more accessible for one group of people makes it more accessible for everybody. 

We are constantly working to improve and enhance the accessibility of all of our sites, and working with local groups and experts by experience to do this.

Read on to explore just some of what we've done to make Pontefract Museum more welcoming and representative for all:

Audio description guides

Our Visitor Experience Assistant David modelling the PenFriend audio description guide

We now have audio description guides for the main gallery at Pontefract Museum! These are designed with our blind and partially sighted visitors in mind but are free to be used by anybody.

We have built a strong working relationship with our local Sight Loss Council members to inform these and future resources.

The audio descriptions are accessed using one of our PenFriend devices. You tap the coloured stickers in a handheld booklet. The PenFriend then reads aloud the description. They can also be used with headphones.

The audio description guide describes and provides more information about a range of star objects on display. It also guides you around the main gallery space.

Tap the stickers in the booklet, and the PenFriend will describe what's on display

Relaxed openings

Every Tuesday from 2pm to 4pm at Pontefract Museum is a relaxed opening session. You can explore the Museum in a quieter, more relaxed setting.

Everybody is welcome! And you are welcome to be your full self.

Any loud noises from videos and interactives are turned down or turned off. Lighting levels are kept low and consistent. This all works to reduce sensory overload and generate a relaxed atmosphere.

There is also a pop-up tent quiet space for anyone who needs it. 

We don't book groups during this session to help keep the museum quieter.

Pick and Mix station

A family exploring the Pick and Mix station

We have Pick and Mix stations at all three of our museums. They are full of beautiful tactile tools and resources to support our visitors to get the most out of their visit.

The 'Explore' drawer contains a variety of things to explore our displays in lots of different ways. These include tools to match different shapes, colours, materials and sounds to our objects.

The 'Touch' drawer has a range of fun colourful fidget toys. Perfect if keeping your hands busy helps you to stay calm or to concentrate!

The 'See' drawer is full of different lenses, magnifying glasses and frames. These can help you to look at our objects in another way, and support dyslexic and partially sighted people to change the colour contrast.

The 'Sound' drawer has a number of ear defenders available in child and adult sizes. These are great for visitors who are sensitive to loud or sudden noises. 

You can also fill up one of our backpacks with a range of items for easy carrying around the galleries!

Makaton signage

Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate.

We have Makaton signage next to star objects and interactives around the museum, showing you how to sign that word. 

Most of our Visitor Experience Assistance have had Makaton Awareness training, and we are busy arranging training sessions for our lovely new starters!

Sensory maps and visual stories

We have lots of opportunities to use your senses around the museum. We also know it helps some visitors to know what to expect, and where to expect it, to avoid sensory overload.

Our sensory maps are available to view online before your visit, and to carry with you around the galleries once you're here. 

Tactile objects in the main gallery and our temporary exhibition, Ladies Who Launch, help you to get hands-on with history by touching real-life historical objects. 

There’s also lots of dressing-up to do and our squidgy, colourful Liquorice Allsorts soft play in the main gallery!

Our smell cubes in the Ladies Who Launch exhibition contain smells that bring the past to life, like leather, a flower shop, and an old 'smithy'!

We also have a visual story for the main gallery available on our Access page to browse before your visit.

Easy Read guide

Image copyright of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

We now have an Easy Read guide for the main gallery at Pontefract Museum. 

Easy read information is presented in a certain way to help people understand information more easily. Photos and illustrations help to explain the information provided.

It is especially useful for learning disabled people and people with low reading ages. It is also helpful for people for whom English is a second language. It can be used by anyone who wants bite-sized information about the museum's main themes.

Telling everyone's stories

We tell a wide range of local people's stories and experiences in our museum and exhibition programme. We are always looking to use our platform to showcase the stories that are sometimes missing from 'traditional' museum and gallery spaces. 

We have worked closely with local people to help them tell their own stories through different mediums.

Here's a snapshot of two recent co-produced exhibitions: 

Fern Woodhead: Boxed In (From Whence You Came)

Fern with their finished exhibition at Pontefract Museum

In 2022 Pontefract teen Fern Woodhead featured on the Channel 4 TV show 'Grayson’s Art Club', presented by Grayson Perry. Fern submitted an artwork to the show in response to the theme ‘Inside my head.’

Wakefield Museums & Castles commissioned Fern to produce a new piece about their gender identity for display at Pontefract Museum.

'Boxed In (From Whence You Came)' explores Fern’s feelings about “being a queer person in an inherently non-queer society”. We worked with Fern to install their artwork in the foyer space at Pontefract Museum, and they have also kindly lent some objects from their gender identity journey for the display. 

Fern hopes that the exhibition will raise awareness and start conversations around sexuality and gender identity. As Fern says, "all of us have an identity, so why shouldn’t we talk about it?"

Fern’s artwork will be on display in the museum until November 2024. We're delighted to have acquired the artwork for our permanent collection.

Read more about Fern's exhibition, including their commentary on their artwork

Ladies who Launch: Celebrating Pontefract's Women in Business

Kitting out the potential events organisers of the future in Ladies who Launch

Our current temporary exhibition at Pontefract Museum is a celebration of Pontefract’s businesswomen. 

We worked with four sets of local female entrepreneurs to share their stories of launching and running successful businesses in our area. 

The exhibition challenges some of our preconceptions about business owners, both in the Victorian period and today. 

Read more about Ladies who Launch: Celebrating Pontefract's Women in Business

Access information for Pontefract Museum

We always welcome feedback on how we can make our sites more accessible! You can drop us an email at museumslearning@wakefield.gov.uk. 

You can find full access information for Pontefract Museum on our webpage. 

We look forward to seeing you soon!