Dr. Sandra Collins:

I am determined that this will be at the heart of what we do. We are putting in a space for wheelchair users. We have an enclosed courtyard behind the main building, which our architect has planned to be a central spine for the entire building. That will mean all spaces are fully accessible and it should also be a welcoming feature of the space.

Sensory is really important. We have carried out a number of research trips to look at places. Most recently our team visited UCC, which has a learning space for neurodivergence. It has a number of features that I am confident we can also work into our learning spaces. These are principles we have in place. For example, we partner with the National Adult Literacy Agency, NALA, on our presentation of exhibitions, and all our public-facing captions in exhibitions, documentation and so on.

Our online programming will remain a key feature in the years to come. The one silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic was learning that we could reach everybody online. We do captioning or Irish Sign Language, ISL. We work with NALA on simple English and being as welcoming and inclusive as we can on that front.