Assess and Plan
Tools to Guide your Organization from Intention to Action
You can’t grow what you don’t know
Improving accessibility doesn’t start with having all the answers, it starts with asking the right questions. The Hub provides transformative evaluations tools, reports, and step-by-step guidance designed just for arts and culture organizations.
Our comprehensive Self-Assessment Tool will help your organization reflect on where you currently are, celebrate what’s going well, and identify where you can grow and improve. You’ll receive a personalized report that provides clarity on your current practices, highlights areas for growth, and guides your next steps.
From there, turn knowledge into action with our step-by-step Accessibility Plan templates, designed to keep your goals realistic and ensure accountability. Along the way, you’ll have access to curated resources including our ADA/504 legal obligations Identification Tool, a glossary of 150+ access terms, and expert-backed guidance to help you move forward with clarity and purpose.
The Tools You Need
Accessibility Self Assessment
This fully digital, self-paced tool helps you reflect on and measure your current accessibility practices.
With 300 multiple-choice questions across five key areas—Organizational Approach, Space, Services, Communication, and Programming—it breaks accessibility down into 52 manageable subcategories. Designed to meet you where you are and teach you as you go, the self-assessment balances legal compliance with disability-centered approaches. Move at your own pace, include multiple collaborators, and build shared understanding as you complete the process.
Individualized Accessibility Report
After completing the Self-Assessment, you’ll receive a personalized report that turns your responses into clear, quantifiable, color-coded insights. The report includes visual representations of your assessment responses to help you better understand your strengths and areas of growth so that you can share and act on your results. Beautifully organized and easy to digest -it’s a powerful tool for reflection, celebration, and next steps.
Accessibility Plan
Using our customizable Accessibility Plan templates will help you turn what you’ve learned from the assessment process and report into tangible action. You’ll establish benchmarks, assign team members, create flexible and achievable timelines, and track progress in a way that fits your organization’s capacity and goals. And, if you need it (find out using the ID tool), completing this plan fulfills criteria for ADA/504 Transition Plan requirements!
ADA/504 ID Tool
ADA, Section 504, Title III, ABA—what are they, and do they apply to your organization? This tool asks 12 simple questions to help you cut through the confusion and identify which federal access laws or sections of those laws apply to you. It’s an easy first step toward understanding your legal obligations as a foundation for improving accessibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the Accessibility Self Assessment Tool Cost?
It’s FREE! The Self-Assessment and all supporting templates and resources are available at no cost. Our goal is for all arts and culture organizations to be able to benefit from these tools without any financial barriers.
How Long does the assessment take?
The time needed to complete the Self-Assessment typically ranges from 1 to 6 hours, with an average of about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Factors such as staff size, capacity, organizational structure, desired process, and the complexity of your facilities or programming can affect how long it takes.
Who should complete the Self Assessment?
Ideally, someone who handles accessibility for your organization, like an Accessibility, ADA, or 504 Coordinator should lead the self-assessment process. However, anyone who understands how your organization addresses accessibility in areas like policies, procedures, physical spaces, services, communication, and programs can take part. This might be one person or a team, depending on your setup. You can find more details in the Self-Assessment Guide.
How many times can we take the assessment?
Organizations can take the Self-Assessment once or multiple times to assess your progress over time. Also, if you have for example multiple facilities or different programs that you wish to assess separately, you may take a specific section of the Self-Assessment multiple times. The only requirement is that you provide a new email address for each submission. More information on this can be found in the Self-Assessment Guide. In addition, organizations are recommended to take the self-assessment again as needed to hold accountability and celebrate progress.
How can State and Local Arts Agencies use the Self-Assessment?
Arts agencies are welcome to take the self-assessment themselves, and they can also encourage or require the organizations they support to complete it. Open Door Arts can work with agencies to create customized training, learning communities, and technical assistance for grantees. We can also suggest systems and policies that help grantees improve their accessibility practices. Additionally, we offer data analysis and reports based on anonymous grantee responses to help inform and strengthen your agency’s future efforts. To learn more about these options, please email TheHub@OpenDoorArtsMA.org