Disability access supports
We want our funding schemes and the work we support to be accessible to everyone.
To help us to this, we offer some key disability access supports.
Disability access support for applicants
We makes every effort to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities to engage with our services.
If you have a disability and need help with submitting your application, please contact us as early as possible before the deadline.
Get in touch
For disability access support with an application, you should contact our Disability Access team:
Email: disabilityaccess@artscouncil.ie
Phone: +353 1 618 0237
Disability access costs for artists, participants and audiences
We are committed to making our funding programmes and the work we fund accessible to everyone.
The Arts Council takes the description of disability from Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which states:
“Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
For many of our funding schemes, you can include disability access costs within your application. There are two types that you can apply for.
Personal disability access costs
These costs should remove barriers for artists or participants with disabilities who are delivering your proposal. For example:
- You
- The main artists, individuals, groups or organisations involved in your proposal
- Partners or collaborators
- Production staff
- Core staff or key administrative personnel.
Examples of support may include:
- An ISL interpreter
- Services of an access support worker.
Audience disability access costs
We want to ensure that more people enjoy high-quality arts experiences and that everyone can access and enjoy the work we fund.
These are costs for making your work accessible to persons with disabilities and should be considered a normal part of your work.
Examples of audience disability access costs may include:
- Having an ISL interpreter for your event or performance
- Using an audio description service
- Making your website compatible with screen readers
- Producing exhibition materials in other formats, such as in Braille or audio.
Note: You can apply for personal disability access costs, in addition to the maximum amount available for the award. We cannot currently fund audience disability access costs above the maximum amount available for the award and you should include these costs in your budget.
How to apply for disability access costs
We need to understand why you are applying for disability access costs and how they meet the needs of your participants or your audience.
You should upload a supporting document with your application, outlining these costs. To help you with this, a template is available below. Please make sure to record personal disability access costs and audience disability access costs separately from each other.
If you include disability access costs in your proposal, you must show the costs in two separate lines in the application form:
- A line for personal disability access costs only
- A line for audience disability access costs only
