The diocesan Accessibility Audit takes the shape of a series of questions to consider. Some of them you may not know the answer to and will require you to do some consultation. There is an optional sheet Accessibility Audit recording sheet on which you can record your findings.
You are encouraged to contact our Diocesan Disability Advisor, Alice Kemp, who is able to come and work through the audit with you.
Finding your church
This may seem a strange question to ask, as of course you know where your church is, and you know how to get there. But for people with anxiety issues or some people on the autistic spectrum, for example, it may not be so obvious. We all learn and take in information in different ways – some people prefer maps, others prefer descriptive directions, some people need directions with pictures or photos of the place they are trying to find.
It is worth checking that information about your church on A Church Near You is up-to-date and includes access information. If your church has a website, try to offer directions and location information in as many ways as possible. Websites can be difficult to read for people who are visually impaired and need to use a ‘screen reader’. It is worth asking someone who regularly uses a screen reader to test out your website.
Please include information about public transport, where this is realistic, and also instructions about where to park, as some people need this information beforehand, rather than having to work it out when they arrive.
Getting to your church
It is important to bear in mind that people with disabilities, including people with mental health problems, are among the poorest in our society. Many people with disabilities are reliant on benefits, and not everyone has a car. So it may be that some people with disabilities can only get to a Sunday service if they are near enough to walk or cycle, or if a lift can be offered. Sunday mornings may also be a difficult time for people to get to church because of medication (which often takes effect later in the day) or caring responsibilities.
Most churches offer lifts to people who cannot get there otherwise. For those people in your community that you don’t yet know, but would like to reach, you may want to consider these factors.
Approaching your church building
If you have a gate at the start of a path leading up to your church, please consider how easy this is to open for people who may have painful conditions such as arthritis. Are you able to leave the gate open, safely? If you do need to keep it closed, make sure the handle is as easy to open as possible for a disabled person.
If you have a path up to your church or church yard consider how suitable the surface is for people with disabilities. Check for obvious trip hazards such as broken or uneven paving slabs. Gravel can be a particularly difficult to get wheelchairs over so consider using Hoggin or bonded gravel. If you have grass paths through a graveyard these should be mown and not strimmed as this will provide a more even surface. Where there are slopes or steps, rails should be provided.
Car Parking
If you have a car park of reasonable size for your church, you should provide at least one disabled parking space. If you do not have a car park, but are aware that a disabled driver is coming to a service or event, you can create a temporary disabled parking space with bollards and a notice with the person’s name on it next to the space not in it, as they would need someone to move the bollards in order to park.
Signs and notice boards
Consider how easy it is for people who are passing to read your noticeboards. For people who have visual impairment, notices and signage need to be printed clearly with sharp colour contrast (black or a very dark colour on white or a very pale colour, or the reverse). The more concise you can make them, the clearer they will be. This is also helpful for people with learning disabilities.
Entrances
It is important to make it really clear where the main entrance to your church is. People with anxiety issues or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may need especially clear signage to indicate which door you expect them to use. Ideally, the main entrance will be the same one for everyone, but if you have to ask wheelchair users to use a different one, because of level access, it is important that this is clearly signed.
If you are not able to offer a level access into or within your church at the moment, please make sure that any ramp put in place over steps is safe and legal. The maximum permissible gradient is 1:12 (the preferred is 1:20), ie for each inch of the step you will need one foot in length of the ramp. Anything steeper than this is illegal and also dangerous. Ramps need to be made safe with handrails and adequate turning space, and consideration given to the direction in which doors open.
Although ramped access is necessary for wheelchair users, most other people, particularly those who use walking aids, often feel safer with steps so it is important to have adequate width space, with handrails, beside the ramp.
All steps, changes of level and ends of ramps inside and outside need to be clearly marked with a strongly contrasting colour on both the horizontal and vertical edges. This is particularly important for people who are blind or partially sighted.
Any glass doors in your church must have ‘manifestation’ which helps to make them visible, again in particular for people who are blind or partially sighted. There should also be high-contrast marking all around the doors to distinguish from the surrounding.
Lighting
Good lighting is important for everyone, but especially for those who are blind or have visual impairment as well as for people with hearing impairment. Lighting levels need to be even and constant throughout the building, rather than variable.
All of us rely to some extent on lip reading when we are listening to people, whether or not we are aware of it. For people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, lip reading can be an important part of their communication. Good lighting assists greatly with this, and it is important that the whole face of the person speaking can be seen clearly, in good, even light. It is also important to ensure that people who are reading / speaking / leading worship are not standing with their back to the light as they will be in shadow making it difficult to see the face and lips clearly. A person who is lip reading will need to be quite close to the speaker, even with good lighting, so please bear in mind that if the person leading worship moves a distance (such as going up to the sanctuary at the start of the Eucharistic prayer) this connection may be lost.
Hearing loops
Hearing loops are very helpful for people who rely on hearing aids. If you have a hearing loop in your church, it is important to check regularly that it is working well, and it is important that everyone who is speaking uses the microphones that are linked to it. Please don’t let anyone say, “I can project my voice and so I don’t need a microphone” as this doesn’t help those who tune in to the loop. If you do not have one in your church, please consider having one installed. When installing a loop, it needs to include the chancel area if this is used as ministers may also need to use it.
Moving around inside the church
Consider how easy it is for people, especially those with mobility impairment or visual impairment, to move around to different parts of the church, bearing in mind that people with disabilities are leaders as well as participants. Often there is level access only as far as the chancel step, and it is then assumed that those who cannot walk or wheel up to the altar/communion table if this is in the chancel are happy to receive Communion in their place. It’s always worth checking this and also asking what people would like to do.
Seating
Whether your church has pews or chairs, you should consider what the seating is like for people living with pain conditions and for wheelchair users.
People who live with chronic pain, a very common hidden disability, often find pews uncomfortable, and difficult to sit in for any length of time. Is it possible to provide some more comfortable chairs with arms, as many people find they need these to push themselves up?
Do wheelchair users have the same choice of where they can sit in church as everyone else? They may not find it very welcoming if they have to sit at the very front or the very back of the congregation.
Text: orders of service, notice sheets, hymn books and screens
Please consider how accessible these are for people with different disabilities, and in particular for those with visual impairments or learning
disabilities. Please see the diocesan guidelines for text communications.
Toilets
If you are considering installing toilets in your church, it is a legal requirement to provide at least one accessible toilet. As well as the dimensions and specifications, it is important that the final details are accessible for people with mobility or visual impairment: that taps are easy to turn; that there are the requisite colour contrasts throughout; that mirrors etc are placed at the right height, and that the emergency alarm cord is in place with the right fittings, and that you have a procedure for responding if it is used.
If you currently have toilets at your church, but no accessible ones, you should consider how you might be able to provide one, allowing for cost, space, faculty etc. Although there are no longer ‘grants for disabled facilities’, it may well be possible to obtain a grant from Awards for All (Lottery funds) or other similar small grant organisations, if it is part of a wider project which will improve community access to your church.
You may want to consider what facilities you have within your accessible toilet for people who have additional medical needs. For example this might be someone who needs to self-catheterise, or someone who is doubly incontinent. This could involve the provision of a medical waste disposal bin, a shelf for people to lay out medical equipment on and cleaning material such as anti-bacteria wipes for spillages.
Welcoming people with learning disabilities
There are many ways in which we can make our worship and church life more inclusive of people with learning disabilities: using drama, pictures and simple language in worship; giving a summary of the main points of talks or sermons; appointing a suitable person or small team to befriend individuals with learning disabilities, who ensure they are included in chat after the service, social activities and events such as coffee mornings, away days, fetes and so on.
Welcoming people with autistic spectrum disorder
We need to understand the particular needs which people on the autism spectrum have whilst being mindful that these can vary greatly. A good place to start is Oxford diocese’s guide: ‘Welcoming those with Autism and Asperger Syndrome in our Church Communities’.
Some people on the autistic spectrum can display behaviour which other members of a congregation can find challenging. This is not a reason for excluding them but rather to ask how they can feel more settled and welcome.
Welcoming children with additional needs
All that has been said above applies of course to work with children and young people with additional needs. Families of children with learning disabilities or on the autistic spectrum report that they appreciate churches which accept their child as she or he is, and also ask parents and carers what is most helpful for them. Every effort needs to be made to include them in age appropriate activities.
