Culture for all / Accessibility

Good design enables, bad design disables

“Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” is the way from temporary to modern capital, which leads to accessible Culture for All: the way to the environment, products and services’ design for all and happiness.

We support the idea expressed in the United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2011 that the “progress” is not merely economic but is primarily related to the well-being and happiness of people, the fundamental aspiration of humanity.

Having become the members of the international network Design for All Europe in 2018, we committed to another mission: to contribute and cultivate the culture of accessibility and Design for All.  At the heart of accessibility ideas is the adaptation of design to the diversity of people. It is an intervention in the environment, products and services to ensure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, needs, culture, age or gender, can fully participate in various social and cultural activities.

In 2019, we have prepared an accessibility guide “Culture for All”.  This is the first attempt, born in “Designing Happiness” workshop, to arrange the most important grammar of culture accessibility, to define concepts, to prepare recommendations and useful references.

It is not just a guide that can help cultural spaces to accommodate objects or events to a wide audience, including people with disabilities. It is also an invitation for all, especially for cultural organisations, to share experiences, fill, adjust and, most importantly, put it into practice while celebrating and in everyday life.

The publication also established and presented a labelling system and labelling guidelines to organise spaces in order in which to easier navigate, move around without difficulty and independently.

We invite you to use the labelling system FREE OF CHARGE for your own purposes – on the websites, advertising leaflets, posters, interior and exterior of cultural objects.

This universal labelling system was developed and gifted by the design agency “Critical”.