This guide makes suggestions using the Kids in Museums Manifesto about measures museums might want to take to help families feel confident visiting museums whilst COVID-19 is prevalent.

The UK government provides guidance for reducing the spread of respiratory infections including COVID-19 in the workplace.

There are separate guidance notes for other UK nations:

The latest wave of ALVA research shows that 61% of people feel confident about visiting museums. A further 28% still feel anxious about visiting but will visit. 11% are still too anxious to visit. Although this represents a strong shift in people feeling positive above visiting, around 40% of people are still feeling some level of anxiety. Around 40% of visitors also disagree with removing all COVID-19 safety measures.

The most recent ALVA research shows that interactives and indoor events and talks still remain a source of concern for about one third of visitors. Around a quarter of visitors still want to see limits on numbers and pre-booking before they will visit and this still makes around 40% more feel more comfortable about visiting. Visible cleaning regimes and mask wearing still make more than 50% of visitors feel more comfortable.

There is a range of guidance available to support museums and other attractions to make decisions about what measures to take to ensure visitors continue to feel confident about visiting and staff and volunteers feel safe at work:

Although not a replacement for a museum visit, digital content and home activity packs are likely to remain important for some families who are clinically vulnerable while the prevalence of COVID-19 is high. Check out these top tips on creating digital content from the museums shortlisted for our Family Friendly Museum Award From Home. You can also watch our talk on Digital Content for Families for the Museums + Heritage Autumn Series. GEM has published a set of case studies about remote learning programmes in museums.

1. Be welcoming

Families want to have a great day out at museums. However, there is still concern about some of the elements of a museum visit that make it enjoyable.

Consider how you will use interactives. Using interactives remain a source of anxiety for about 35% of museum visitors. Many museums took them away completely at the start of the pandemic and now need to consider whether to bring them back or explore alternatives.

Museum Next has created a good summary of alternative technology for touch free interactives. Another article draws on research from the Science Museum and outlines their experiences of using touch free technology in previous exhibitions.

If you do bring interactives back, cleaning is going to be key. Although the availability of hand sanitiser has become slightly less reassuring to visitors over time, 68% still says that it improves their level of comfort.

The Museum of London explains in its pre-visit FAQs that it has brought all its interactives back with enhanced cleaning. The National Videogame Museum has a great explanation of why interactives are important and how they are keeping them safe for use in their pre-visit film.

If you provide hand sanitiser, will there be dispensers at lower levels in the same way that you might provide lower level sinks in a bathroom? This was identified as a key requirement in the survey we conducted of SEND families with Autism in Museums and Sam Bowen.

Offer takeaway or no-touch alternatives. It’s likely that some visitors will feel uncomfortable about touching interactives and other handouts for some time. As a result, you might want to carry on offering takeaway or touch free alternatives. Can you offer takeaway paper trails or activities using other senses, like smell or sound? York Art Gallery’s Looking At Art and the Pitt Rivers Museum’s i Spy takeaway trails are good examples of engaging children visually. The Ashmolean Museum has made all of their family trails available to download in advance of a visit.

2. Be accessible to all

It’s important to remember that there are groups who are unable to be vaccinated or who continue to feel vulnerable even after they have been vaccinated. People from these groups may feel less confident about visiting museums and other attractions after restrictions are removed or relaxed across the UK. It’s also worth thinking about how you protect staff while prevalence rates are high.

Additionally, many of the measures that visitors most want to see in place, such as face masks and social distancing, may create additional challenges for families with additional needs.

Consider all your visitors and ensure social distancing measures work for everyone. Embed and Disability Collaborative Network have put together some comprehensive guidance about accessible reopening. We Shall Not Be Removed, Ramps on the Moon, Attitude is Everything, Paraorchestra and What Next? produced Seven Inclusive Principles for Reopening.

Euan’s Guide surveyed about 400 disabled people about their concerns about going out to different venues as lockdown eased in 2020. The results are a good guide to the information it would be helpful to include on an access page on your website.

Kids in Museums, Autism in Museums and Sam Bowen (@MakeDoAndSEND) surveyed around 90 families over the summer of 2020 to find out what they wanted when they returned to visiting museums. Look at the results to help ensure families with additional needs continue to feel safe.

Disability Action Yorkshire has put together six top tips for accessible social distancing, in particular for wheelchair users. The RNIB website has guidance about COVID-19 and how it affects those with sight loss. VocalEyes also surveyed blind and visually impaired museum visitors to ask them what they are concerned about visiting museums and accessing online events.

Think about how to provide clear guidance about what to expect on a visit as shown in this social narrative from BALTIC about the visitor experience.

You may also find it useful to refer to our existing accessibility guidance on how to best cater for different visitor groups.

Many museums are starting to run relaxed or accessible openings again. There are examples at London Transport Museum and the Postal Museum.

3. Make it easy and comfortable

ALVA research shows that visitors still want the number of visitors at museums and indoor attractions to be limited. Some museums, such as Royal Museums Greenwich, are maintaining one way routes and encouraging visitors to be respectful of each other’s space.

Think about what you can still offer in terms of space for families. Consider how you can still offer facilities for families such as buggy parts, additional seating, space for breastfeeding and space to eat picnics. The Ashmolean Museum has a dedicated FAQs page for families including a way to contact the museum to ask questions.

Consider how you will promote the wearing of face coverings and exemptions. 57% of people still say they make them feel more comfortable in a museum. Key considerations are supporting staff to enforce policies and enabling those who are exempt to visit comfortably. There are useful examples from Thinktank and Museum of London.

Think about how staff will approach people not wearing face masks – there are a range of exemption cards available, including Sunflower Lanyards. The National Deaf Children’s Society has some useful advice about communication and face masks.

4. Remember that families come in all shapes and sizes

Booking timed ticket slots is one of the measures ALVA suggest retaining after regulations are lifted in England, particularly at busy times, such as weekends and school holidays. Think about how timed ticketing options will work for different sizes of family groups. Thinktank is offering families the opportunity to reschedule visits if they experience COVID-19 symptoms and cannot attend.

The economic impact of the pandemic is still being felt by many families and is being exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis. In a recent report, the Resolution Foundation highlights that the recent increase in energy prices will put around 5 million households into fuel stress (spending 10% or more of household income on energy).

The AIM case study from Kiplin Hall discusses how the venue changed its ticketing model to attract more family visitors as it reopened after the first lockdown.

Many museums stopped accepting cash during the pandemic and it might be worth reviewing whether you can start accepting cash again. The Bank of England has extensive information about the potential for COVID-19 transmission via bank notes. Children and young people may want to spend their pocket money in cash in your shop. There are also concerns that older people, people with significant debt and people in rural areas with poor broadband may be disadvantaged by moves to being cashless.

Over summer and autumn 2021, museums including the National Maritime Museum and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum programmed bookable activities for families with capacity limits still in place. This may still be necessary as ALVA data shows that people are still anxious about attending indoor events.

It’s also worth considering how you can make the most of outdoor space in and around your museum as families are likely to feel safer and more comfortable outdoors. The University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge has created an animal themed walking trail around the town and National Galleries Scotland has created some outdoor trails for families in their grounds.

There are a range of ideas for playful activities in our case studies about COVID-19 safe play.

5. Communicate well

Provide clear information about what safety measures you are retaining on your website. Remember to keep your family page updated as well as your general visitor information.

According to the latest ALVA research, the parts of a visit that are still creating anxiety are:

  • distancing from other visitors and whether capacity will be limited
  • pre-booking
  • wearing masks
  • using interactives and audio guides
  • attending indoor events.

It’s really important that website information addresses these points for families. The Roman Baths in Bath and the Wellcome Collection have good examples on their websites.

As well as communicating what a visit will be like beforehand, think about how you can show families having a good time at your venue. This will help to spread the word that a museum visit can still be safe and fun.

6. Be an active part of your community

Seek feedback. It’s really important that museums continue to ask families for feedback to understand how they feel about visiting.

Poole Museum has collected feedback throughout the pandemic using comment cards. They invite visitors to use hand sanitiser and have two containers for pencils, used and new, which they then quarantined and reused.

Think about how you reflect children, young people and families’ experiences of coronavirus in your collection. Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood is collecting children’s stories and creations during lockdown.

Alexandra Palace’s Make Your Mark project saw young people working with street artist Carleen De Sozer to design wayfinding signage to support social distancing.

 

If you have seen a good example or guide for museums reopening, please let us know and we will add it to the resource: [email protected]

Please note this guidance is intended to enhance, not supplant, any government guidance about COVID-19 secure working. It does not supplant any legislation relating to health and safety or equalities. All museums must continue to meet these obligations and carry out and implement appropriate risk assessments.

Files for this Resource

Tags: ,

Categories:

Audience: