Museum of Liverpool ranked as UK’s most accessible visitor attraction

The Revitalise Accessible Tourism Report has named the Museum of Liverpool as the number one accessible attraction in the UK.   

Overtaking Tate Modern, which topped the ranking in 2014, the Museum of Liverpool scored highly due to the availability of disabled toilets and for training all staff in disability awareness. 

Six of Liverpool’s attractions featured in the top 20 venues – including the Walker Art Gallery, the International Slavery Museum, World Museum Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum and Tate Liverpool. 

Commissioned by Revitalise, a national charity that creates holidays for disabled people and their carers, the report scores UK attractions according to a number of factors: hoist availability, staff training in disability awareness, general accessibility, concessions for disabled visitors and their carers, the proportion of disabled toilets, and whether accessibility information appears on their website. 

Kate Johnson, a deputy director of the Museum of Liverpool, said: “From the outset the design of the building was intended to be fully accessible and we also reflect that intention in our staff training and the displays and events we hold.” 

“We are so proud to be at the top of the list and will continue to listen and work with disabled people and organisations like Revitalise to maintain this position,” she said. 

The report also measures progress since the 2014 report, highlighting where advances have been made, and where more progress is necessary. 

A quarter of UK visitor attractions (26%) are now more than 90% accessible, compared to just 10% in 2014. 

The number of venues now equipped with hoists has almost doubled from 15% in 2014 to 28%. 

But more than half of UK venues do not train all staff in disability awareness. 

Chris Simmonds, the chief executive of Revitalise, said: “We’re thrilled to acknowledge the venues that have made necessary changes in their accessibility for the benefit of disabled people. We are also impressed with the efforts of those venues that not only represent the very best of our British culture, but that are making that culture fully accessible to everyone.

“The best advice we can give to venues is to involve disabled people in your plans," he said. "They know what real accessibility means and will tell you the truth about whether you’re getting it right."