Home Stories

The Joy of Being Disabled

  • Series
Black and white photographic composite of 5 portraits, vertically sliced through the image.
Amy Kavanagh, photo: Shona Louise, Sinéad Burke, photo: Eilish McCormick, Roxy Murray, photo: Darren Black, Christopher Laing, Kate Standforth, film still: MK Moves. © All Rights Reserved.

These are five stories from people who are proud and happy to be disabled:

They tell their stories in different ways, through video, photos and writing. 

The stories show us it is important for disabled people to have the time and opportunities to express themselves. 

Disabled people often face barriers in society. A barrier can be physical, like a building not having lifts. Or it could be a communication barrier, like not providing BSL interpretation or audio description. 

All these barriers were created by society, not by the person who is disabled. 

Seeing the world in this way is called the social model of disability. You can find more information about it on the Disability Rights UK website.

Website accessibility  

We want to make sure everyone can use our website easily.   

It’s been designed so you can: 

  • listen to our website using a screen reader
  • navigate using just a keyboard
  • zoom in without text spilling off the screen
  • read captions and transcripts of audio and video files
  • access alt text descriptions for our images
  • read text easily with recommended font sizes and colour contrast ratios  

If you’d like to change the way the website looks, AbilityNet has guidance on how to: 

We aim to meet level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. We do regular internal tests and external audits to monitor how accessible the website is.  

If you have any comments or feedback about our website’s accessibility you can email: digital@wellcomecollection.org.

User panel  

Can you help us make our website work better for everyone? 

If you’d like to take part in user research studies to help shape the future of Wellcome Collection’s digital products, please fill out this Wellcome Collection User Panel form.

  • Article

Ballet, beauty, and the joy of wheelchair dance

Since childhood, Kate Stanforth has danced whenever and wherever she could. The only difference now is her wheelchair.

  • Article

Fashion, identity, and the need for community

Sinéad Burke’s love of fashion has driven her to campaign for change and, ultimately, establish a consultancy that aims to transform the way the industry includes and represents Disabled people.

  • Short film

Exploring Deaf space at London College of Fashion

In this British Sign Language (BSL) film, activist and architectural designer Christopher Laing outlines the five principles of Deaf space and shares his thoughts on identity and inclusive design.

  • Article

Disability, desire, and pleasure unlocked

Roxy Murray dives into the raw, intimate truths of sex and pleasure as a disabled person, sharing an unapologetic and explicit journey through her frustrations and desires.

  • Article

Pregnancy, parenting, and embracing blindness

Amy Kavanagh, who is blind, shares the delight she feels in her young, sighted son, and her growing acceptance of the ways his experiences will differ from hers.

About the editor

Amy Kavanagh

Amy Kavanagh

Dr Amy Kavanagh is an award-winning disability activist and access professional. Amy is committed to celebrating disability, mobility aids and encouraging others to learn about the social model of disability. Amy advocates for disability equality and access in a wide variety of sectors. This includes public transport, digital inclusion, violence against women and girls, museums and the arts, LGBTQ+ rights and employment equality. She also uses social media to share her lived experience navigating the world as a blind Londoner and parent alongside her guide dog, Ava.