{"id":1926,"date":"2019-09-20T14:16:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T13:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabilityawareness.training\/?p=1926"},"modified":"2019-09-20T14:16:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T13:16:57","slug":"employing-deaf-british-sign-language-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/?p=1926","title":{"rendered":"Making your workplace accessible for Deaf British Sign Language Users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many employers worry about employing Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users but actually, there\u2019s no need.  With some simple adjustments a Deaf member of staff can be a very valuable member of your team.  Here are some tips to help you consider how to make your workplace Deaf friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access to Work<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When employing Deaf British Sign Language users ensure they are aware of and utilising the government funded Access to Work (ATW) Scheme.\u00a0 An ATW assessor will assess their needs, and funding for communication support and equipment can be provided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meetings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Team meetings and individual 1:1 meetings need to be scheduled well in advance so that communication support can be booked if needed.\u00a0 Provide interpreters, palantypists, Communication Support Workers, note takers or lip speakers with minutes and any notes\/ presentation in advance. Ensure that minutes are taken and circulated quickly as Deaf staff members are unlikely to be able to take notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Employing<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Training<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Invest in our Deaf Awareness training <\/a>so your team feel confident and comfortable communicating with Deaf colleagues.\u00a0 Some staff members may wish to learn some basic BSL and it would be great to encourage this.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ask your Deaf staff members how they like to communicate when not face to face.\u00a0 It could be that Skype or Facetime is better for them or they may prefer you to use the next generation text service<\/a>.\u00a0 Other preferences may be email or text message.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evacuation Plan<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ensure that you have a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan which you have discussed with your Deaf staff member. This must includes how the staff member will be alerted in the event of a fire. A few examples are a pager system, flashing smoke alarms or a fire warden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Communication is key.  Deaf people are very adept at overcoming potential barriers and difficulties and will know what works best for them \u2013 just ask! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It really isn’t hard to make your workplace accessible. By putting these simple tips into action you can reap the benefits of employing Deaf British Sign Language Users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find more tips in this 3 minute video<\/a> with our CEO Jennie Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you found this article useful please share it with your network. Enjoy all our latest tips and insights by joining us on twitter @EnhanceTheUK. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many employers worry about employing Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[45,82,73,83,50,60,84,85],"class_list":["post-1926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-tips","tag-accessible","tag-atw","tag-bsl","tag-deaf-awareness","tag-disability","tag-hr","tag-inclusion","tag-workplace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}