Cards for Inclusion – a new way to play access
Unlimited aims to embed the work of disabled artists in the mainstream cultural sector and thanks to additional funding from Arts Council England and British Council, Unlimited has been able to create resources to support this work internationally. Cards for Inclusion is a card game helping those in the arts sector explore how barriers can be removed and how we all can make whatever we offer more accessible to disabled people, and they officially launched at the Festival of Change, as part of the Museums Association’s annual conference (8-10 November 2018).
“We wanted a way to help everyone dig into their own creativity to come up with access solutions, rather than seeing the removal of barriers as something only ‘experts’ can solve – and we wanted to make it playful as well as educational.” Jo Verrent, Senior Producer, Unlimited
Taking inspiration from gamification, the cards have taken over 18 months in development and have been trialled and tested around the world including in Belgium, Ukraine, Singapore, Japan and China, to ensure they are as simple and straightforward to use as possible.
So what are Cards for Inclusion? There are three sets of cards
WHAT: art, event or item
WHERE: place or space or context
BARRIER: things that stop people from accessing
Each card has a simple word or phrase on it and are beautifully illustrated by disabled artist Seohye Lee. In small teams, groups are given a card from each set, for example:
WHAT: Sculpture
WHERE: In a park
BARRIER: Steps or uneven ground
The group have to discuss various solutions to overcome that barrier and ensure everyone can get to, engage and participate in the art or item in that location or circumstance. The more varied the group who discuss the situation, the more varied the solutions they can come up with.
More information: https://weareunlimited.org.uk/cards-for-inclusion/