FEATURE Jul 2026 Accessibility and Disability in the Arts: A Personal Reflection

Marjorie H Morgan

Writer Marjorie H Morgan presents a thoughtful and important survey critiquing accessibility and disability in the art world, drawing on personal experiences as an arts practitioner occupying a position of intersectionality.

The arts have always reflected society, and continue to do so.

Things changed in 2020, a year that may soon be known in the history books as the time of the ‘Great Reset’, that failed on several levels.

The onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic shone a light on the inaccessibility of the UK arts sector to chronically ill and disabled people.

At first everybody was affected as access to social and arts events was totally shut down. With time, the restrictions were lifted, with provisos. But people like me have been effectively and invisibly continually locked out of our cultural art homes for over six years now. For me, the major changes started early on in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic precautions started to close down social spaces in order to protect the health of the nations.

As someone who was already categorised as ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’, I received a hoard of letters from various Government departments telling me to ‘stay home and stay safe’. Being a good, health conscious citizen, I complied.

I am still complying six years later while the rest of the world has opened up and, effectively, excluded me and people like me from shared public spaces. While some positive changes have occurred since 2021 in arts spaces, restricted access to the arts is still an important and every day issue for me and others in similar situations who are regularly excluded.

As a writer, who is often seen primarily as a ‘writer of colour’, I have also experienced exclusion from certain physical and online spaces for various reasons including the expectation that I will work without pay for “visibility”, and the shared responses from editors that my pitches are outside of the range of whatever publication I approach because they do not accept work on general subjects from writers of colour, and they have already filled their quota of “Black writer’s work” for whatever-given-period.

Opportunities have also been taken away because of accessibility issues, examples of this practice include occasions working as a journalist when I have been the recipient of early invites to attend events. When I have asked whether the venue space is a clean air environment, and accessible for people with mobility issues, the response is invariably a resounding ‘no’, but with suggestions that they may look into it at a later stage, but no accommodations can be made in time for this particular scheduled event. Shut out again.

A highly personal situation occurred in 2020, when, as a playwright, I could only attend the dress rehearsal of my own play at a local theatre, with just the cast, the director and a skeleton theatre crew to protect my health. I was unable to be at the sold out performance that followed because no agreement had been reached to put in place additional accessibility and health and safety measures for the production.

The particular venue-related accommodations that were put into place at the start of the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 were quickly dropped due to rising costs, lack of funding. Furthermore, many digital and remote access programmes were reduced or ceased when live performances restarted in 2021.(1)

In November 2021, as a response to the question about arts access beyond the pandemic produced for the Arts and Humanities Contribution to Covid Research and Recovery, Richard Misek wrote an article asking, ‘What Next for Digital Theatre?’ (2) This essay detailed the rapid ‘snap back’ to live only performances - with the removal of socially distanced seating restrictions, and the factors behind discontinuing digital performances, which included the obstacles of money, having a sustainable model for digital performances, and venues finding justification for the end of digital projects in the lack of ‘a good reason to do a digital performance’. These decisions reinforce the messages that theatre performances are therefore not for everybody, the organisations have reverted to the model of theatrical offerings being space-dependent and only for the able bodied and those who do not ask for special or particular accommodations.

I have wondered if accessibility in the arts is merely an economic puzzle? I question how does capitalism show itself in the economic arena of arts, accessibility and disability?

An example of this is one particular popular fringe theatre in my city that has for years only had a series of steps at their entrance, but no ramp or lift into the main building despite many requests for adaptable access, with the reasons given as awaiting planning permission, and the cost of installation.

Finance is one of the major reasons behind the total exclusion, alongside the continued exploitation of artistic contributions by the policy of non-payment or low payment of work in the arts arena.

In the UK, Black History Month (BHM) is highlighted in the month of October. In the run up to this event corporate sign-posting increases at little, or minimal cost to the organisations. I have repeatedly been asked to prepare and share articles, data, film resources free of charge as an ‘opportunity to be featured’ in the organisation’s editorial pages.

A prime example of this has occurred with the organisation LinkedIn. I share a redacted email below that was received in October 2025 (and is sent annually with a few minor adjustments):

Hi Marjorie,

My name is XX and I’m an editor at LinkedIn News. I often reach out to LinkedIn members to add an informed perspective on today’s news and trends.

Today, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this year’s Black History Month (BHM) theme: ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride.” It calls on the Black community and wider society in the UK and beyond to recognise the courage, vision and agency Black people have consistently demonstrated throughout history, writes author Cherron Inko-Tariah: “The message of this year’s Black History Month is clear: unity is strength.”

How does this year’s BHM theme, ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride,” resonate with you? What relevance does it hold for your professional or community work, amid a particularly challenging global landscape?

Post your thoughts here by Mon, 13 Oct, 10am BST

Share your insights in a post or video from your LinkedIn profile, using the hashtags #BlackHistoryMonth #LinkedInNewsUK for a chance to be featured in our editorial coverage on this topic.

I look forward to reading your response.

There is never an offer of any payment for my time or work, just a “chance to be featured in our editorial coverage on this topic”: it feels like… continual exploitation which smarts even more in Black History Month.

I am happy to share information I research - on my own terms, however, I am not willing to be used by corporations who probably have budgets for this “work”, to improve their social image once a year in Black History Month.

So, I have been standing firm in power and pride and resisting this ‘offer/insult’.

There are many people who remain genuinely interested in learning about the lives of people from different cultures  and circumstances to theirs who, for many different reasons, share a common history and live in this land of ours, and to them I applaud your everyday activities for a fairer society for all: keep up the good work, we are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain.

BHM in October appears to be a time in the UK when people who bask in the privilege of social systems constructed around the theory of white supremacy, and who may have ignored equality and equity for all in the rest of the year, dust off their BHM posters and talk about people like Mary Seacole for a day or two. Then pat themselves on the back, breathe an audible sigh of relief, and tick the ‘Black History’ box on the official form as they return the mandated teaching materials to the back of the store cupboard for yet another year. Truth be told, I’m kind of tired of the tokenism of BHM by many large government bodies and corporate organisations. It’s almost as if involvement in BHM is a ‘photo opportunity’ for  these official bodies.

I have written about this in my Substack (a place where many artists exists to manage their own content and have free rein on how they are publicly represented, and how they are paid for their content) - that it is my contention that racism, and a system of racial discrimination exists as a legacy of colonialism, as does the counterpart system - white supremacy: you cannot really talk about one without talking about the other. You cannot dismantle one without dismantling the other.

While the systems of capitalism are bedfellows with white supremacy by design, these systems do not offer a medical diagnosis of ‘Blackness’ as a disability. However, in order to rationalise inequality, historically Black people have been treated as inferior, less intelligent and were even labelled as having a mental illness when the enslaved Africans sought their freedom from captivity. This pseudoscientific diagnosis of drapetomania (3) was created to pathologise the human desire for freedom in Black people, and the continued use of scientific and “every day” racism is a tool used to justify oppression and racial inequity in all areas of society.

The continued exploitation of using Black artists’ work for no pay continues, even with modern Arts Council England (ACE) funded projects.

Nearly a decade ago, I worked on a joint BBC promoted project for Black History Month with a local arts organisation, my agreed work was delivered in full and on time. However, I, and another collaborator of colour, had our final payments withheld as the project organiser decided they did not want to pay us as contractually agreed. This resulted in me contacting the funding organisation, ACE, to make them aware of the situation. This action led to ACE contacting the local arts organisation who was ‘encouraged’, as the fund-holder, to release the payment as per the contractual agreement. It should not have been necessary for me and the other collaborator to have to fight for money that was already ours.

This behaviour was the antithesis of the ‘arts establishment’ working with Black creators and artists to promote BHM. It destroys trust.

Art is a discipline that encompasses the attributes of a sense of freedom and personal expression. When access to art is restricted on a personal or corporate level this is a harness on individuals with different needs, abilities or forms of expression.

Apple Inc. had a recent campaign slogan “Accessibility - innovation that’s accessible by design” (2025); the arts industry often behaves in a diametrically opposite way to this.

The arts sectors appear to have been designed to continue to be inaccessible to minorities, disabled, and others with what is considered ‘non-standard needs’. It is my belief, and a result of decades of experiences as both a consumer of and a contributor to the arts environment, that this sector needs to adjust and the financial gatekeepers need re-education for their institutions to become fully ‘accessible by design’.

Jenny Pettican, an accessibility and inclusion educator, posting on LinkedIn in May 2025, noted that it should be remembered that disability is a leading factor in innovation that benefits everyone. Pettican mentions a number of everyday acts and gadgets that the general population would not have without disabled people, for example:

“1. The Electric Toothbrush

Originally designed for people with limited grip or coordination, now you find them in almost every household.

2. Ramps

Built for wheelchair access, but perfect for buggies, bikes and suitcases too.

3. Text-to-Speech & Voice Assistants

Created for blind people and those who struggle with mobility, now it’s how half of us set timers.

4. Velcro

Widely used in disability care settings for ease of use, now everywhere from trainers to schoolbags.

5. Audiobooks

Originally made for blind readers, now a go-to for multitasking or rest. It's one of my favourite pastimes.

6. Touchless & Automatic Doors

Made for accessibility but now essential in supermarkets, airports and hospitals.

7. Subtitles & Captions

Originally for Deaf and hard of hearing people, now everyone uses them, on the train, at night, or just to focus better.

Disability drives innovation. Accessibility helps everyone.”

Disability and the accessibility solutions developed have an impact on everyone in their everyday lives.

What I seek in the arts world is equality and equity of access for all.

The ability to be in the same space as the art is essential to the soul of the person viewing and experiencing the work - it changes your soul. Art alters you.

My experience and output is not niche, or exotic - as I’ve often been told, neither is it a mere token for the BHM window in October every year.

There is an industry-wide theory that, ‘Black doesn’t sell’. The main group that I am assigned to is told that “Who we are and what we have to say isn’t ‘marketable’”, but I would beg to differ especially when looking at the data associated with actors, musicians, and occasionally comedians.

The changes occur slowly. For several decades, and across multiple continents, there has been a ‘One in one out mentality’ as recalled in the experiences of comedians Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor who were told: “You’re the new …”, that signifies that there is only room for one person of colour in the whole canopy of the artistic genre.

Being me is about experiencing the exclusion of the arts environment on a multi-intersectional level including class, gender, ‘race’, disability.

It is like having a restrictive filter forced on me, like a straitjacket, that limits me to speak publicly on only one subject when I have an interest in creating and writing about so many areas, like sports, film, history, travel, and, of course, the arts.

It is vital that the gate keepers are conscious that no matter the skin colour or the physical ability, artistic creatives have a breadth of knowledge and personal perspective that the world is missing because of historical boundaries that they reinforce anew each year.

All the wonder, joy, and curiosity of many individual perspectives is often ignored.

Speaking publicly about marginalisation always comes at a cost: the fear of speaking your truth to power, then being sidelined even further into the margins of society by the monied gatekeepers - those holding the strings. This reflective essay may close more doors for me, yet I know this has to be shared.

It would be helpful if the gatekeepers of the arts world would make access points for others, instead of people who look like me, and experience life in a similar way to me because of a disability, having to constantly highlight the problems with accessibility from the outside of the exclusive club doors that are firmly closed, and guarded by the said gatekeepers.

The barriers to opportunities are seemingly fixed into concrete foundations, and the people who try to access the guarded world are viewed as ancient stereotypes of characters without knowing the individual’s story or background: being either Black or disabled is not a single monolith identity. Neither is having multiple intersectional identity shards - they add to the complex beauty of individual experiences.

For true equality of access as a creator, talent has to meet opportunity, but often opportunity does not recognise talent because it is often viewed through a white able-bodied Euro-centric monolens.

Footnotes

1) https://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2021/october/over-half-uk-theatres-abandoned-online-digital/

2) https://pandemicandbeyond.exeter.ac.uk/blog/what-next-for-digital-theatre-2/

3) Cartwright, S.A., 1851. Report on the diseases and physical peculiarities of the Negro race. The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, 7(6), pp. 691–715