Inclusive tour: Easy-to-read and understand visitor brochure (Facile à lire et à comprendre) at Les Franciscaines in Deauville, France

Les Franciscaines is a multidisciplinary cultural centre located in Deauville, Normandy. Housed in a renovated former convent, it brings together a museum, temporary exhibition spaces, a media library (médiathèque), an auditorium, performance venues, a workshop, a restaurant and informal resting areas. The institution welcomes local residents, tourists, families, school groups and seniors.

Les Franciscaines identified a need to improve access to essential information and orientation for visitors who have difficulties understanding standard cultural communication. This includes people with intellectual disabilities, people in situations of illiteracy or low literacy, and visitors unfamiliar with cultural institutions.

The institution wished to provide a non-stigmatising tool, usable both on site and online, to help visitors understand what the venue is, what can be found there and how to use it.

The objectives of the project were:

• to create an easy-to-read and understand visitor brochure (Facile à lire et à comprendre) presenting the venue in clear and accessible language
• to co-construct the content with end users in order to ensure real usability
• to encourage new publics to feel legitimate entering the venue
• to develop a method that can be reused by other cultural institutions

The brochure was conceived as a first point of contact and an entry door to cultural participation.

The associated organisation was ESAT Anaïs (Saint-Arnoult – Deauville), a work support establishment for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Selection criteria included:

• direct involvement of people concerned by comprehension barriers
• experience in collective work and long-term projects
• geographical proximity to the cultural institution

The final decision was guided by the will to place users at the centre of the creation process.

The project resulted in a 12-page easy-to-read and understand visitor brochure, written in French.
It explains:

• what Les Franciscaines is
• the different spaces inside the venue
• what visitors can do there
• practical information (address, opening hours, prices, accessibility)

The brochure is available at the reception desk on request and on the website.

The brochure was written in French, using an easy-to-read and understand method (Facile à lire et à comprendre).

Editorial principles included:

• short sentences and one idea per line
• use of common and concrete vocabulary
• explanation of complex terms rather than removing them
• clear structure and predictable navigation

The tone was designed to be respectful, informative and non-infantilising.

• Large, readable fonts
• Strong contrast between text and background
• Limited information per page
• Visual hierarchy supporting reading order

The graphic design was adjusted throughout the process based on user feedback.

Before the project, Les Franciscaines already offered:

• full physical accessibility (elevator, adapted circulation)
• human mediation and cultural facilitators

However, no global easy-to-read written presentation of the venue existed.

Main difficulties included selecting essential information, avoiding institutional or cultural jargon, and accepting multiple rewriting phases.

Solutions included regular working sessions with six ESAT workers, systematic testing of texts, and iterative rewriting and corrections.

A key challenge was letting users, rather than professionals, define what is clear.

Participants indicated that the brochure:

• made the venue less intimidating
• helped them understand spaces they had never entered
• increased their confidence to visit

An indirect result was the arrival of new visitors before the official launch.

Key takeaways: what to promote and what to avoid

To promote:

• Co-construction with end users from the very beginning
• Easy-to-read and understand tools as core communication resources
• Time allocated for testing and rewriting

To avoid:

• Producing accessible tools without user testing
• Treating accessibility as a final adaptation step

From the perspective of Les Apprimeurs, the collaboration required more time than a standard brochure but resulted in a more relevant, inclusive and effective tool.
The main challenge was coordination, while the main benefit was producing a resource that genuinely changed who feels entitled to enter the cultural institution.