A More Accessible World

A More Accessible World

From Transforming Tomorrow by The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business

April 6, 2026 · 45 min · Season 3 · Episode 26

About this episode

The episode discusses improving marketplace accessibility for people with disabilities through art and training.

You might find accessing the commercial world straightforward. Not everyone does. One in five people in the UK have a disability, so how do we make the marketplace more accessible for them? Dr Leighanne Higgins and Dr Killian O’Leary are here to talk about their Marketplace & I project, which works with organisations to improve their accessibility for consumers through specialist training. We find out how they use art and artworks produced by people with a disability and their families at the heart of their project – and which artworks really stand out to the project leaders; and how their work goes beyond shops and cafes to charities, universities, and councils, taking a broad look at issues. Leighanne and Killian tell us why they are so passionate about ending exclusion from society, and how all of us might face accessibility issues as we enter old age. They show how things have evolved over the last decade when it comes to accessibility attitudes, and how organisations they worked with several years ago are now exemplars of change. We talk about the difference between visible and invisible disabilities, and how needs differ when entering the marketplace. And we discover…

People in this episode

Guests: Dr Leighanne Higgins, Dr Killian O’Leary

Topics covered

  • accessibility
  • disability
  • marketplace
  • art
  • inclusion
  • training

Keywords

  • accessibility
  • disability
  • art
  • training
  • inclusion
  • marketplace
  • UK

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Marketplace & I

Places: UK

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