Accessible facilities

Access

Accessible facilities

Toilets and showers

Accessible unisex toilets are available on every floor, fitted with alarm cords. If you require urgent access to a toilet, please ask a member of staff who will aim to guide you to the nearest toilet. We have accessible showers available on each floor. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.

Changing Places

MAC has a Changing Places toilet on-site with a changing bench, hoist and larger space for people with access requirements and assistants. To access the Changing Places toilet please visit our Welcome Desk or ask a member of staff for further assistance.

The Changing Places toilet is located opposite the Garden Studio and Outdoor Theatre, near to MAC Bar.

The facility includes height-adjustable, adult-sized changing bench; ceiling track hoist system; adequate space for a disabled person and up to two assistants; peninsular toilet with space both sides for assistants; privacy screen; wide paper roll; large waste disposal bin; washbasin; back rest on toilet seat; non-slip floor; emergency alarm; colostomy shelf.

For more information, please visit the Changing Places website

Chill-out spaces

We know that MAC can get busy at times and that some people may experience degrees of sensory overload. If you feel you may become uncomfortable, please tell a member of staff and they will aim to identify a quiet space for you.

Large print and audio recordings

Large-print copies of our brochures, café menus and gallery labels may be requested via our Welcome Desk ahead of your visit. Audio recordings can also be made on request. Staff will assist in reading short amounts of written material whenever capacity allows.

Sound enhancement

The induction loop system at MAC has been installed to provide clear, amplified sound to visitors with hearing impairments. We have two types of induction loop systems; a fixed loop and an infra-red loop

Fixed Induction Loop

These are available in MAC Bar, KILN Café, MAC's Welcome Desk, and Pinsent Mason 1 and Deloitte meeting rooms. Anyone who wishes to use the system at the bar, café and Welcome Desk must stand between the two blue stickers displayed on the wall and switch their hearing aid to the “T” function setting. The meeting room induction loops are available anywhere in the room.

Infra-red Induction Loops

These are available in all indoor performance venues and studios, the Bryant, Saintbury, Cole and Roughley meeting rooms, and the Painting and Drawing, Textiles, Ceramics, Jewellery and Weston studios. Within these rooms an infra-red hearing loop receiver must be worn in conjunction with the users hearing aid which has to be switched to the function setting “T”. These can be picked up from the Welcome Desk.

Seating information

Main Theatre

  • Main house seats have fixed armrests; width between armrests 46cm; ends of rows have no seats next to them i.e. seat numbers 1 and 20
  • Row L: Four loose seats; seat numbers 1 and 3 have fixed armrests – width between armrests 46.5cm; seat numbers 2 and 4 have no armrests – width of seat pad 45cm

Cinema

  • Main house seats all have fixed armrests; width between armrests 45cm; aisle seats have no seats next to them i.e. seat numbers 8 and 9
  • Row L: Four loose seats; no armrests; width of seat pads 42.5cm

Hexagon

  • No armrests; width of seat pads 39cm

Emergency situations

All Customer Service Assistants are trained on evacuating non-ambulant visitors in the event of an emergency. We have a first aid room on the ground floor if needed, with two wheelchairs for emergency use.

Assistance dogs and emotional support animals

Assistance dogs are welcome in our public and performance spaces and may also accompany course bookers as required. MAC is happy to provide water bowls, usually found on our Outdoor Terrace leading to Cannon Hill Park. If you have an emotional support animal that you need with you during an event, please contact us in advance of your visit on [email protected] or 0121 446 3232.

Access lifts

There are two lifts in our building. All floors are serviced by our main lift, located close to our bar and cinema. This has tactile buttons and can accommodate a wheelchair, mobility scooter or buggy 80cm wide. Another lift servicing the Bryant meeting rooms and Hexagon Theatre is located by our KILN café.

Step-free access

There is level, gently sloping or permanent ramp access into MAC from the car park and from Cannon Hill Park, as well as throughout our building. Automatic doors into the building are available at both entrances. Portable ramps can also be made available if required.

KILN café and MAC Bar, both on the ground floor, are fully accessible with plenty of room to manoeuvre. We have low counters at the Bar and Welcome Desk. We have designated wheelchair spaces inside the cinema and theatres.

Different coloured flooring in contrasting tones are used in various places throughout the building to indicate where the gradient of the floor changes, to emphasise the boundaries.