Disability MLA believes that disabled people have the right to enjoy equal access to museums, libraries and archives. MLA embraces the social model of disability, which puts the onus on employers and service providers to remove and minimise the barriers disabled people face. Disability legislation has ignited the social and cultural creativity of museums, libraries and archives, resulting in exemplary contributions to society as a whole. MLA is subject to specific duties under the Disability Equality Duty and has published a Disability Equality Scheme.  Disability Equality Scheme (Word 128KB)
 Disability Equality Scheme (PDF 56KB)
MLA's action to promote access for the disabled to museums, libraries and archives is grounded in the findings of their Disability Surveys in 2001 and 2005. Disability Survey 2005 (full report) (Word 310KB)
Disability Survey 2005 (summary) (Word 100KB) Disability Survey 2005 (full report) (PDF 247KB)
Disability Survey 2005 (summary) (PDF 56.2KB)
As a response to the Disability Survey 2001, MLA has created a number of resources to help museums, libraries and archives to develop access for disabled people: - Disability Portfolio : a portfolio of twelve guides on how to best to meet the needs of disabled people, which includes guidance on meeting disabled people, the DDA, training, audits, ICT and low cost solutions
- Disability Checklist: an easy to use checklist of 100 questions to identify existing good practice and areas for improvement. (Word 273KB) or (PDF 707KB)
MLA also promotes web accessibility and supports the Jodi Awards for excellence in accessible web sites and digital media. As part of the Framework for the Future programme, MLA developed or commissioned: - Access for disabled people web learning resource for public libraries, which builds on the MLA funded Best Practice Manual, Library Services for Visually Impaired People
- Feasibility study of publishers making electronic files available in accessible formats (2005)
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