Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Paper (survey of UK theatre websites by volunteer researchers)

State of Theatre Access 2023

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/vocaleyes-2024-state-of-theatre-access/ · record checked 9 October 2026

  • Fryer L (for VocalEyes, Stagetext and the Centre for Accessible Environments)
  • VocalEyes, Stagetext and the Centre for Accessible Environments (published on Stagetext's website)

Nonprofit advocacy (three UK access charities, VocalEyes, Stagetext and the Centre for Accessible Environments, coordinated the survey with volunteer researchers who have lived experience of access barriers; written by Louise Fryer, an independent researcher and audio describer; funding not stated)

Summary

A review of the access information on the websites of 465 professional UK theatres in April and May 2023, the fourth in a series that began in 2016.

Key findings

  • Volunteers reviewed the websites of 797 professional UK theatres in April and May 2023; 465 met the scope (at least one upcoming professional production), down from 659 in 2017 and 629 in 2019.
  • Counts 364 venues (78%) as "equipped with a Hearing Loop", from what their websites showed, and reads the remaining 22% as failing to meet "this basic access requirement"; it does not count infrared, radio or Wi-Fi systems.
  • 15% of the websites gave no access information at all, and where information existed it was often hard to find; 401 (86%) gave contact details for access enquiries, with a named access person or team in 102 cases (22%).
  • Some websites named the equipment used for audio description, including Sennheiser MobileConnect with a limited number of headsets or the visitor's own device, a Sennheiser infrared system, and headphone-style receivers; two required headsets to be booked 24 hours or 10 days in advance.
  • Only 55 venues (12%) reserved seats for access performances, which the report says can matter for good headset reception for audio description.
  • Recommends that websites state the type of headset used to deliver audio description, and give information about access equipment the venue can provide, especially if patrons must bring their own.

Limits

A survey of what websites say, not of what venues have or whether it works: the loop count rests on website content, and the report gives no definition of what counted. The authors say volunteers' on-the-spot judgements may differ between people and years, and that shared websites (such as a theatre group's) mean websites and theatres do not correspond exactly. UK only. Dated from the publishers' announcement (17 June 2024); the PDF was created on 2 May 2024.

Read the original

stagetext.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/State-of-Theatre-Access-2023-PDF-1.pdf

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Cited in

Cite this source

Fryer L (for VocalEyes, Stagetext and the Centre for Accessible Environments). State of Theatre Access 2023. VocalEyes, Stagetext and the Centre for Accessible Environments (published on Stagetext's website). 17 June 2024. https://stagetext.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/State-of-Theatre-Access-2023-PDF-1.pdf (accessed 9 October 2026).

The accessed date is when this library last checked the link; use the date you read it. To point readers to this summary instead, link to https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/vocaleyes-2024-state-of-theatre-access/

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