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On 25 May 2024, concurrent with the renewal of AFNOR Diversity and Occupational Equality certifications, Paris Opera’s management concluded an agreement with its trade unions to encourage the employment of people with disabilities. The agreement aims to favour the recruitment, retention and training of people with disabilities, structure the network of in-house actors (occupational health unit, HR, Disability Officer) and improve communication about disability issues.

More generally, Paris Opera is stepping up its commitment to accessibility and inclusion by introducing new human resources initiatives.

- Hand’scène, a group of staff members from various Paris Opera departments, was set up in 2016 to consider and propose initiatives to promote accessibility to the workplace for employees with disabilities, and to the theatres for those who would otherwise be prevented from attending events. The group comprises the Disability Officer, the director responsible for accessibility, two HR representatives, the secretary of the Social and Economic Committee or, if that person is unable to attend, a member of the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee, one official from each representative trade union, and up to ten volunteers. A partnership with Association Valentin Haüy, a charity for the blind and visually impaired, was set up on a proposal from the Hand’scène group, enabling sight-impaired members of the association to attend lunchtime concerts at Palais Garnier.

- To support recruitment, Paris Opera has set up partnerships with TREMPLIN, an association that promotes equal opportunity in higher education, and with Mission Handicap du secteur de la production audiovisuelle et du spectacle vivant et enregistré, a disability project in the performing arts sector supported by Audiens (social protection) in partnership with Agefiph (disability support).

- In April 2024, for the second year running, Paris Opera hosted a job dating event organised by Audiens, giving jobseekers with disabilities an opportunity to meet business managers. The event was attended by around 30 organisations with positions to fill, including Théâtre National de Chaillot, Musée d’Orsay, TF1, UGC, Cité de la musique and Comédie Française, and 105 candidates looking for artistic, technical or administrative jobs. The initiative aims to continue to change occupational practices relating to disability in the cultural sector.

- Since 2023, Paris Opera has been a sponsor of the Tous HanScène competition organised by TREMPLIN, a non-profit with a network of around 150 partner employers. Since 2022, TREMPLIN has been involved in an initiative with Paris Opera to help young people with disabilities in their studies and their integration into the workforce. Since 2012, the association has organised Tous HanScène, a short video-film competition that highlights disability, for which Paris Opera sponsors a prize in the Arthouse category.

- During European Disability Employment Week in 2023, several members of Paris Opera staff took part in DuoDay, a nationwide initiative in which people with disabilities meet professionals at work. Under the scheme, 18 people with disabilities were introduced to a range of occupations in 10 different departments of Paris Opera.

Paris Opera’s buildings date from a time when the question of accessibility for people with disabilities did not arise, or at least not in the same terms as today. Paris Opera staff are therefore working to gradually bring all its public buildings – Opéra Bastille, Palais Garnier and the Dance School – into compliance with the prevailing requirements while taking account of certain exceptions implicit in their respective architectural histories.

Work has been carried out in recent years to bring the surroundings and public areas of Opéra Bastille into compliance, including the installation or extension of handrails, the installation of guide paths, contrasting patterns on glass walls, signage in Braille, etc. Several programmes of works with a €2.5-million budget are scheduled over the coming years to bring all the washrooms into compliance.

In 2023, upgrades to the Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen, one of Opéra Bastille’s three auditoria, included the creation of 12 places for people with reduced mobility and their companions. As of the 2024/25 season, the main auditorium at Opéra Bastille will also offer two more wheelchair-accessible places at the rear of the stalls in addition to the existing eight. An increase in the number of wheelchair-accessible places is being considered to expand capacity in future seasons.

At Palais Garnier, an outside lift is being installed so that the building can be accessed from the main façade.

At the Dance School in Nanterre, guide paths and handrails have been installed to secure the stairways, and the washrooms have been brought up to standard. Further work to make the building compliant is ongoing. 

Paris Opera has specific arrangements in place for people with disabilities and offers special discounts (30% off the ticket price, including for the companion). 3,500 people with disabilities attended events in Paris Opera auditoria in the 2022/23 season.

A special unit within the Audience Experience and Marketing Department helps to ensure that people with disabilities can attend performances under the best possible conditions. All the relevant information is available on the Accessibility page.

Accessibility for deaf and hearing-impaired people is incorporated from the outset into many events in Paris Opera Academy’s Young Audience programme. Some Young Audience performances include French sign language (Swan Language in 2023/24) or performers with disabilities (Less is more in 2022/23), others are naturally accessible to deaf or hearing-impaired people. In the 2023/24 season, vibrating jackets were also available on loan for certain performances.

Paris Opera offers the following arrangements to support access to its programme of artistic events:

- personalised support when booking and organising the attendance of people with reduced mobility at both theatres;

- performances with audio-description for blind and sight-impaired people, including dance performances since the 2022/23 season, in a collaboration with the non-profit association Accès Culture that started nearly 20 years ago;

- Relax performances, inclusive and caring events organised with the non-profit association Culture Relax for people whose disability (autism, multiple disabilities, intellectual disability, mental disability, Alzheimer’s, etc.) can cause unusual or unpredictable behaviour during the performance. The customary codes are relaxed so that all can enjoy the performance and experience their emotions without fear of being judged. Several Relax performances are scheduled each season, at both Opéra Bastille and Palais Garnier.    

Paris Opera is continuing its efforts to make access to its online and streaming services more user-friendly for people with disabilities.

The Paris Opera Play streaming platform, launched in March 2023, has been designed with accessibility in mind. Audited by Temesis, a specialist consultancy, it achieved an overall accessibility rating of 82.76% in October 2023.

Paris Opera also added a text-to-speech function to its website in 2023, providing an audio version of the synopses of upcoming performances.

Accessibility is central to the Academy’s artistic and cultural education programmes, which all provide for the inclusion of participants with disabilities.

Certain programmes are intended more specifically for such people: