Our Accessible information guide looks at how you can present information to support autistic people to use your services or facilities. 

Anyone can experience anxiety. It is common to feel anxious when in a stressful or challenging situation. However, some autistic people may feel anxious in their day-to-day lives due to navigating social and sensory environments that might be difficult or challenging. 

Advance information can be very important for autistic visitors, who may be able to manage any anxieties they may have better if they can suitably prepare before their visit. 

By providing as much information as possible about your venue, you will manage expectations, reduce anxiety and help with planning. Details of a venue layout are important for people with a range of accessibility requirements, but certain environmental elements – noise, lighting, big crowds - can be challenging or confusing for an autistic visitor.   

Additional environmental information (such as if there is a quiet space, or an alternative entrance to avoid queuing, suggested in our Accessible Services page could be of particular use to autistic visitors.    

Even if you do not operate a venue, providing information about what people can expect when they use your facility or services (for example, on your website) can help reduce anxieties.  According to an Access Survey, conducted by Vocal Eyes, 92% of disabled people seek access information before their visit and mostly from a venue’s website. If people do not find information that reassures them that their access needs will be met, they will often change their plans and not visit. 

Along with being a good thing to do, accessible venues make good business sense - leading to an increase in visitors, revenue and reputation. 

Accessible information – hints and tips 

Clear information 

Have clear information available online and, if appropriate, in print. If possible, having information in different formats, such as videos and photographs, plus in different levels of detail (such as having an Easy Read version and a more detailed version) so customers can access all the information they need in the way they want, is also incredibly helpful.  

Try not to overload each page or section with too much information and lay it out clearly, breaking down large sections. If there is a process someone will need to go through, break it down into small chunks with a clear outline of what support is available at each stage. 

Information in advance 

Providing information in advance can be a way to reduce stress. Many autistic people find new and uncertain situations stressful and therefore the more they know about what to expect and what will be expected of them, the more likely their stress will be relieved. 

Having a video available showing a walk-through of your setting could help, or you could add photos of different parts of the building to your website or a leaflet that people can look at in advance. For example, The British Museum website features Powerpoint presentations, showing what is inside the museum. 

Clear navigational information  

• You can help an autistic person navigate an environment by providing clear visual information – maps, signage, directions and so on, taking care to ensure language used is simple, to the point and clear. 
• Navigating large spaces can be difficult but knowing where the toilets are, how to get to an exit, where quiet spaces are and which staff members are on hand can help autistic people to manage anxieties. 
• Have clear signage in prominent locations throughout a building that indicates the direction of key places or where you are. 
• Providing a map at the entrance or one that someone can access before a visit (online) and take with them can help. Make sure to also include information about who to ask for help if needed.  

Processing information 

• Asking autistic people about their preferences for communication and offering options (where possible) is good practice - for example, asking whether the individual would prefer to communicate verbally or in a written format. 
• Sometimes autistic people feel like they’re getting ‘too much information’ and need a few moments to filter through it all. This is called processing time. If you’re talking to someone, give them a minute. Even when information is available and accessible, it may still take autistic people time to process this and this should be borne in mind by staff and other visitors. 
• Ask one question as simply as you can, and just wait. If you still don’t get a response, try rephrasing it or writing it down instead. It is important to be mindful that autistic people have different forms of communication - some autistic people may be non-speaking or have intermittent speech. 
• Talking a person through what is happening, in the format they wish – whether through speech, pictures or in writing – is also good practice.   

More information and useful links 

Some examples of good autism-friendly practices: 

Little Angel Theatre 

A visual story is a short description of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why. Little Angel Theatre creates visual stories for access to the theatre but will provide bespoke stories for performances on request.   

London Zoo Visual Story

London Zoo produced a visual story for a visit to the zoo. It includes a visual trail of a visit with photographs and straightforward text highlighting aspects that may be challenging or confusing for an autistic visitor.

Visit England

Visit England provides advice on how to create an accessibility guide that can help you to communicate with your customers who want specific accessibility information. 

Social Story Creator 

Touch Autism provides a free tool to help you create a visual story. 

AccessAble  

AccessAble provides a range of accessibility guides for public services. There are tens of thousands of venues across the UK and Ireland, including shops, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, railway stations, hotels and more. They have an app for using AccessAble on the go. 

National Museum Scotland 

National Museum Scotland features a range of resources on their website for autistic visitors – including visual stories, a map of the museum and picture communication cards. 

This Accessible information webpage is also available as a downloadable PDF.

Next steps

Accessible information checklist 

Use our checklist (PDF format) to initially assess how autism-friendly your services are. It also includes our Accessible environments and Accessible information checklists. 

Please complete our survey, so we can learn from yourselves how we can better support your business or organisation to become more autism-friendly. 

The survey is provided by Smart Survey. We will not use the information provided for any other purpose. Please see privacy notice for further details of how we manage your personal information. If you have any further questions, please contact our Supporter Care team on 0808 800 1050 or at supportercare@nas.org.uk. If you would like further information about how Smart Survey process data, please see their privacy policy. 

We would like to thank the Kusuma Trust for funding the creation and publication of our autism-friendly guides, making this fantastic work possible. For more information about the Kusuma Trust and their impact in the UK, Asia and Gibraltar, please visit their website.