An easy-read summary is a simpler and shorter version of our Accessibility Plan. It does not include every detail of the full plan. For the full plan, please skip to the section titled Accessibility Plan.
This plan is about accessibility at the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian War Museum, and the Canadian Children's Museum ("the Museums"). We want to become more accessible to people with disabilities. This is important for us, because the Museums are for all Canadians.
We are looking forward to making changes to be more accessible. To help us create this plan, we talked to members of the public with disabilities, and staff members with disabilities. They shared what they think about accessibility at the Museums. We used what they told us to help develop this plan.
This document explores how the Museums will become more accessible over the next three years. When we say "accessible," we mean without barriers, enabling as many people as possible to enjoy the Museums as visitors, and as employees. Our plan includes the following commitments:
We welcome your feedback on this plan. Please tell us what you think of the plan by contacting:
Project Manager, Accessibility
By email: accessible@historymuseum.ca
By telephone:
Local: 819-776-7000
Toll free: 1-800-555-5621
TTY for people with hearing disabilities: 819-776-7003
By mail:
Canadian Museum of History
100 Laurier Street
Gatineau QC K1A 0M8
Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place
Ottawa ON K1A 0M8
In person:
Information Desk
Canadian Museum of History
100 Laurier Street
Gatineau QC K1A 0M8
Information Desk
Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place
Ottawa ON K1A0M8
On our feedback pages:
historymuseum.ca/about/contact-us
warmuseum.ca/about/contact-us
Via social media:
Canadian Museum of History
On Facebook: Canadian History Museum (@CanMusHistory)
On Instagram: @CanMusHistory
On Twitter: @CanMusHistory
Canadian War Museum
On Facebook: Canadian War Museum (@warmuseum)
On Instagram: @CanWarMuseum
On Twitter: @CanWarMuseum
The Museums are committed to providing an inclusive experience. We want everyone to be able to enjoy our programs and services in ways that respect their dignity and independence.
We are dedicated to being accessible to everyone. This includes making our workplace, activities and services accessible to people with disabilities. We understand that accessibility is an ongoing process. People with disabilities are the experts when it comes to their own experiences and accessibility.
We are committed to listening to people with disabilities, and to keep improving accessibility at the Museums. We pride ourselves on being responsive in our approach to inclusion and access. In addition, we have reached out to other museums and galleries to learn what they are doing to provide an accessible experience.
We will create a staff accessibility advisory group and an external accessibility advisory committee. We support the goals of the Accessible Canada Act (ACA), and will create policies, practices and procedures that promote and require accessibility.
We welcome feedback, including feedback submitted anonymously. Feedback can be provided by employees, volunteers, visitors and anyone else who comes into contact with the Museums. Comments can be about accessibility at the Museums, or about this plan. We are committed to reviewing the feedback we receive and taking steps to address the barriers identified.
You can submit feedback about accessibility by contacting:
Project Manager, Accessibility
By email: accessible@historymuseum.ca
By telephone:
Local: 819-776-7000
Toll free: 1-800-555-5621
TTY for people with hearing disabilities: 819-776-7003
By mail:
Canadian Museum of History
100 Laurier Street
Gatineau QC K1A 0M8
Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place
Ottawa ON K1A 0M8
In person:
Information Desk
Canadian Museum of History
100 Laurier Street
Gatineau QC K1A 0M8
Information Desk
Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place
Ottawa ON K1A 0M8
On our feedback pages:
historymuseum.ca/about/contact-us
warmuseum.ca/about/contact-us
Social media:
Canadian Museum of History
On Facebook: Canadian History Museum (@CanMusHistory)
On Instagram: @CanMusHistory
On Twitter: @CanMusHistory
Canadian War Museum
On Facebook: Canadian War Museum (@warmuseum)
On Instagram: @CanWarMuseum
On Twitter: @CanWarMuseum
In addition, you can request alternative formats of this plan, and a description of our feedback process by contacting:
Project Manager, Accessibility
By email: accessible@historymuseum.ca
To learn about the Museum’s Accessibility Plan, read this electronic version. This version works with assistive technology.
The Museum can provide this plan in the other formats. We will provide as soon as possible after a request. These are the deadlines for those other formats:
Print: 15 days
Large print (increased font size): 15 days
Braille: 45 days
Audio (a recording of the text read aloud): 45 days
The following definitions apply throughout this plan:
Accessibility: The design of products, devices, services, environments, technologies, policies and rules that makes their access possible for all people, including people with a wide range of disabilities.
Barrier: Anything that could hinder the full and equal participation of people with disabilities. Barriers can be architectural, technological or attitudinal. They can also be related to information or communications, or can be the result of a policy or procedure.
Disability: Any impairment, or difference in physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning or communication ability. Disabilities can be permanent or temporary, and can change over time.
We are made up of three different physical museums: the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian War Museum, and the Canadian Children's Museum. The Children's Museum is located inside the Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. The War Museum is located 2.4 kilometres away in Ottawa, Ontario. We also have a funding program for online projects, called Digital Museums Canada.
The Canadian Museum of History is this country's national museum of human history. It explores Canada's rich cultural heritage, including the outstanding achievements of Indigenous Peoples.
The Canadian War Museum is Canada's national museum of military history. It is also a recognized centre for the study of armed conflict.
The Canadian Children's Museum provides young visitors with opportunities to learn through play on a fun and interactive trek around the world.
Digital Museums Canada is a federally funded program managed by the Canadian Museum of History. It invests in digital projects produced by Canadian museums and heritage organizations, helping them share unique regional stories with people everywhere.
Through our consultations with people with disabilities, we have learned about some changes that we need to make. This includes being better connected with disability communities, and developing ways of consulting people with disabilities. We need to have the right employees to be able to do this work, and staff members need to have the right knowledge to be able to bring accessibility into their daily tasks. We also need to be clear that all Museum employees share a responsibility when it comes to thinking about accessibility and making the Museums and their activities more accessible.
There are some aspects of creating and maintaining accessibility that require specific knowledge. In some cases, this knowledge is needed by all or most of employees. For example, many people create documents, and may need training on how to produce accessible documents. In other cases, training might be offered only to specific staff. For example, only the people who work on the Museums' websites need to know how to create accessible webpages.
Here are the general actions that we plan to take to improve accessibility:
Accessibility within the built environment has a significant impact on whether people with disabilities can comfortably use the space in a manner equal to those without disabilities.
Our plans about exhibition design can be found in Section 2.6., Design and Delivery of Programs and Services.
We are planning to integrate better wayfinding into our renovations over the next five years. This may include better markings on stairs, accessible signage, and improved lighting. We are also planning upgrades to improve the accessibility of all spaces within the Museums. Our goals are described in the next section.
Here are the actions that we plan to take to improve accessibility of our built environment:
There are approximately 350 employees across the three Museums. They include researchers and historians, exhibition developers and designers, curators, program developers, visitor-facing staff, and people who care for collections. We have staff who give tours to the public, create content for our exhibitions, manage our websites and social media, and supervise employees. We strive to ensure that Museum staff members reflect Canada's diverse population. Since 2020, many employees have worked from home, or both in the office and at home.
The goals outlined below will help us to improve accessibility for our current and future employees with disabilities:
The Museums have three different websites: the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian War Museum, and Digital Museums Canada. We know that our websites are not fully accessible. We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our websites and social media for accessibility. We will be building these findings into our continued plans to improve accessibility across all of our platforms.
We use social media — YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram — to share information on our exhibitions, videos and programs. Staff also use a variety of technology in their work, including many Microsoft programs.
We provide information, both on our websites and in person, on our exhibitions and collections. We also offer information through tours, lectures and films, both on site and online. We share this information on our websites, in print documents, in videos, and through social media. We answer questions through our Contact Us form on our websites, with options for the public to email or call us. Communication is one of the areas in which we have recently focused attention towards improving accessibility.
We need to provide content in plain language that is inclusive of a wide range of audiences and learning styles. We are striving to develop a plain-language strategy that will be incorporated into all online and print information. We also need to provide alternative formats of materials to visitors with print or visual disabilities.
Ensuring an inclusive visitor experience is our top priority, so we are implementing a social story on our websites that walks visitors through what to expect during a visit, including tips for planning an accessible visit. In addition to visitor-facing communication, staff members also communicate with one another through meetings, written documents, the intranet, and emails. All of these can also present barriers to accessibility.
Here are the actions that we have planned to improve accessibility of information and communications technology for Museum staff and the public:
The Museums offer programs and services both online and in person. These programs are designed for a wide range of audiences, including children. We have many ways in which audiences can enjoy the Museums, including self-guided tours and specialized programming.
We have already done some work to engage those living with disabilities.
In terms of describing accommodations available to visitors with disabilities, our websites do not clearly communicate that, when purchasing admission, a visitor with disabilities is allowed to bring a support person or caregiver free of charge.
We are also aware of best practices at other galleries and museums, which have designated quiet, loud or relaxed hours. We are planning to implement specific quiet/loud hours, and make these known in our public communications. We understand that a large part of implementing these quiet/loud hours will involve consulting people with disabilities, and we are developing a strategy to engage with the local disability community.
Here are the actions that are planned to improve accessibility in the design and delivery of our programs and services:
We want to ensure that the goods and services we buy are purchased with accessibility in mind. This will help to avoid creating new barriers. It is also easier and better to prevent barriers in the first place, than to remove them later. When the Museums buy something, staff will write descriptions of what they need, including any specific requirements. When determining these requirements, it is important think about best practices, and what people with various disabilities might need.
Improvements to this process can be made. Here are the actions we plan to take to improve accessibility of procurement:
The Museums do not provide transportation, so we do not have any goals related to this area.
This section outlines how people with disabilities were consulted in the preparation of this plan. We consulted with an advisory group made up of members from the cross-disability community. This advisory group spent time exploring our websites, and offered feedback on how our programs could be made more accessible, as well as areas in which we are currently offering inclusive programming. They described the barriers they encountered on the Museums' websites, their past experiences visiting our Museums or other museums, and the information they would want when planning a visit.
We also developed a survey that was distributed to all employees at the Museums. In the survey, we asked employees if they had experienced barriers to accessibility. We also asked employees to provide details about any barriers, and potential ways of removing them. Twenty-seven employees with disabilities filled out the survey. Responses focused on themes such as accommodation processes, hiring processes, and barriers for visitors.
The Museums are committed to hearing from people with disabilities. To meet this commitment, we will consult people with disabilities on all aspects of this plan, as well as other major projects.
To be successful in improving our accessibility, we must include people with disabilities early and often. We are creating a standing advisory committee to allow visitors with disabilities to participate in developing accessible solutions that work for everyone. Members who represent a broad range of people with disabilities, along with seniors, will share their knowledge and experiences with the Museums. This advisory committee will meet regularly to review projects and plans, and to guide the Museums' work on accessibility. Once established, this group will be included in project planning at the Museums, including asking them for their feedback, and seeking their advice on accessibility.
A positive visitor experience is incredibly important to us at the Museums. We rely upon visitors to inform us about their experiences, and to let us know where we can make improvements. The feedback submitted via our visitor feedback form and through our advisory group will help us identify barriers. This information will also be shared with staff and volunteers. We will track the information closely to identify ways of improving and removing these barriers — through policies, procedures, and operational changes.
Including and welcoming people with disabilities in all aspects of our organization is a top priority for the Museums. We are committed to improving accessibility by implementing this Accessibility Plan over the next three years. We are also dedicated to continuing the work of examining our practices, policies and operations to find and address barriers to accessibility. We understand that accessibility is an ongoing process, and we are committed to engaging in that process through consultations with people with disabilities.