Accessing Archives: creating a network for disabled, neurodivergent, chronically ill or deaf historians

A link to an easy read version summary of this research

It can be difficult to access archives, online or in person. There are many potential challenges. Travel can be difficult. The archive building may not have accessible access. The seating inside may be wrong. You might feel anxious about going to an unfamiliar place. You might find working in silence difficult. You might struggle to see or read the documents. You might have difficulties communicating with the people who work there. Digitisation may help, but be inaccessible for others. Access can be expensive. There are significant gaps in what is available online too. Not all history can be studied online. Going to archives overseas is, for many people, even harder. All archival work is slow. But disabled researchers face even more challenges. 

This project will set up a network of disabled historians who use archives to discuss these barriers. This network will be open to UK-based historians who self-identify as disabled, deaf, neurodivergent or chronically ill. It is open to family historians, independent scholars, and academic historians of all career stages. Esme Cleall, based at the University of Sheffield and Rachel Bright at Keele University, are leading the project - we are both disabled researchers ourselves who are interested in improving access to heritage.

There are three parts to our project. 

Part One: Sharing Experiences
This strand aims to get disabled historians together to share experiences about using archives. We want to build Accessing Archives as a Disabled People’s Organisation. This includes building collective knowledge and finding out what people would like to get out of the network. We will do this through a mixture of hybrid and online consciousness-raising sessions to pool our collective knowledge.

Part Two: Learning from and with Others
This strand aims to learn from other people. We  will work with Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) which is a Disabled People’s Organisation. Together we will think about building up our network, facing challenges and overcoming them. BuDS will provide two workshops specifically around Access. We will also work with Archives to have conversations about access in a collegiate, collaborative and constructive way. This is not about criticising archives about what they do and do not offer in terms of accessibility, but about working with them to develop solutions. As part of this, we are inspired by the project Accessible Pasts, Equitable Futures, which is a current project seeking to make digital heritage collections more accessible. 

Part Three: Building Resources
This strand will build and share resources for disabled researchers and for archives to use in thinking about accessibility. Based on our experiences, information gathered, and evidence accumulated through our collaborative discussions, we will produce three outputs: 

1. Policy paper advocating for better archival access for disabled researchers.
2. Policy paper aimed at our own institutions for how they can support us as employees.
3. An online resource for disabled, deaf, neurodivergent, and chronically ill researchers with tips and suggestions.

Our methods are designed to be anti-ableist and as inclusive as possible. Most of the events will be held online for accessibility. But, because we recognise that online events don’t work for everyone, we are also holding two in-person events.