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Space for everyone

‘Nothing about us, without us.’

We are dedicated to becoming the most inclusive and caring museum we can be.

We’ve listened to advocates with lived experience and inclusive features can be found across the building.

 

View the museum map here

Inclusive features

Access in the museum

There is a ramped entrance from the pavement outside the museum to the front door. There are lifts to all floors and level access to all public spaces, including galleries, the shop, café, toilets and other facilities. You can find a map of the museum here.

Places to sit 

We have lots of seating across the whole museum including in our Main Hall next to the coffee bar. There are seats and benches in most of the galleries. Portable folding stools are available to use too – just ask a member of our team if you need one. 

Quieter times 

The museum offers inclusive support for visitors of all ages who prefer not to be in a noisy and busy environment. You can take the opportunity to explore the museum before it opens. Visit between 8am – 10am on Saturday mornings. Entry is free but please call 0161 275 2648 to arrange your visit. We are monitoring visitor flow and will promote the quietest hours on our website and social media once we have a better understanding of the most and least popular visiting hours. 

Quiet room

The quiet room is on floor 1 next to the Egypt and Sudan Gallery. It is a quieter space for anyone who needs time away from the galleries for rest, reflection or other reasons. It includes seating and mindful activities such as puzzles and books. Ear defenders are available in the room and at our welcome desk.

Prayer room 

The prayer room is on floor 1 next to Living Worlds. It is a calm space that is available to anyone who wants to use it for prayer, contemplation or meditation. It includes room dividers, a private ablution area, a shoe rack, and chairs. Please speak to our team if you have any other requirements or need assistance. There are also a number of Prayer Halls around the University Campus.

Lockers and buggies 

Personal belongings can be left securely in lockers, which are next to the Main Hall, and there is plenty of space to leave your buggy.

D/deaf and hard of hearing 

BSL interpretation and captioning are offered where possible.

Blind and visual impairments 

Public interpretation, signage and digital content complies with RNIB standard. Guide, assistance and companion animals – including assistance dogs in training – are welcome at the museum. We ask that they are identified by wearing a jacket, a harness, or a brightly coloured collar and lead during your visit. Water bowls for dogs are available in the café – just ask and our staff will be happy to help.

Therapy dog

You might see our therapy dog, Murray, in the museum. Murray is trained to give emotional support to those who need it. We also have a therapy room on our Top Floor.  

Find out about the spaces on The Top Floor

Getting here

There are six car parks on campus with a mixture of permit and public parking. Find the details here.

The nearest car park is Booth Street West Car Park which has bays for disabled parking (UoM Car Park D). It is open Monday-Friday, 6am-midnight, and costs £3 for 3 hours, £5 for 3 – 6 hours, or £2 after 4pm until midnight. On Saturday and Sunday the car park is open 6am-midnight and costs £2 all day.

The Aquatics Centre car park is also close to the museum.

To help you plan your visit and understand how far the walking distance is between the car parks and the museum, we’ve created these videos.

Watch this video to help plan your journey

Autism

We are working on a visual story to help plan your visit to the museum.

When you get here, ear defenders can be borrowed from the welcome desk.

A quiet room is available on floor 1 next to the Egypt and Sudan gallery. Ask a member of staff for more information.

8am – 10am on Saturday mornings is a quieter time to visit the museum. Entry is free but please call 0161 275 2648 to arrange your visit. We are monitoring visitor flow and will promote the quietest hours on our website and social media once we have a better understanding of the most and least popular visiting hours. 

For more information before your visit contact us on:

Resources are developed with SEND in mind

Toilets

Whoever you are, you will find a toilet for you in the museum.

  • A Changing Places toilet is on the ground floor next to the Main Hall. This is a fully accessible toilet that provides space and equipment for people who are not able to use the toilet independently. 
  • All-gender toilets are on the ground floor next to the Main Hall. 
  • Gendered toilets are available on floors 1 and 2.  

Free period products are available in every toilet.

You can also ask for a family pack at the welcome desk, which include nappies, baby wipes, and bags.

Download a map of the toilets

Digital Touch Replicas

We’ve worked collaboratively with students from Grange School, a local school for autism, and Pinc College, a specialist college for creative education, to create Digital Touch Replicas (DTR)  for the museum’s Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibition.

Digital Touch Replicas are physical objects that can be explored by touch. Feeling different areas of the surface triggers hidden electronics, which in turn plays information relating to the area on a screen or tablet. Physical interaction with objects is particularly important for visitors with sensory impairments and for those who need to make physical connections with objects to make sense of them.

Book tickets to Golden Mummies

We embrace the social model of disability and hope to build on this model in all our work. We have worked to remove potential barriers for people engaging with our building and collections in response to the diverse needs of our visitors. We have drawn on the skills and passion of our staff with support and guidance from partner organisations and volunteers.

We are proud of the work we have done but are also aware of how much there is to do. We understand there are people who may feel excluded from the museum for a huge range of social, political, environmental and economic reasons.

We want to know how we can most efficiently and effectively direct our time and resources to have the greatest impact in making all people feel welcome and able to enjoy an equitable experience. If you have feedback for us, can’t find what you’re looking for or you require additional assistance, we will do our best to support you:

This website has been created to comply with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. You can find more information here.

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As one of the UK’s largest university museums, we care for over 4.5 million objects, with an internationally-important collection spanning from Archaeology to Zoology, and nearly everything in between. We work with communities, support university students and schools in Manchester and beyond and we are a free, inclusive museum for all. But we need your help. Every object we care for, exhibition, school visit and community event comes at a cost, and you can help make the museum as ambitious and impactful as possible.

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