Open House Festival
Deaf Architecture Front (DAF) consulted with Open House on a long-term project to improve accessibility for the Deaf community during the Open House Festival.
Over the course of five days, DAF led consultations to identify barriers to Deaf engagement and developed a strategy to improve the way Deaf participants navigate and experience the festival. Our process focused on understanding the practical, cultural and communication challenges within the festival’s existing programming and site arrangements.
The final day featured a dedicated workshop, bringing together key stakeholders to develop an actionable access plan for future festivals.
The project also explored how Open House could collaborate effectively with Deaf BSL tour guides and interpreters, ensuring that access budgets were used strategically and sustainably. DAF created bespoke access strategies tailored specifically to the Open House Festival, responding to its unique format, sites and audiences.
This initiative was made possible thanks to the National Lottery and supports DAF’s wider mission to strengthen inclusive practice and long-term change within cultural and public events.