Deaf users campaign for video relay service

After a decade of having their needs neglected by telecoms providers, leaders of the UK's deaf community have written an open letter published in today's Times newspaper writes Jack Schofield for ZEDNET (11/05/12). 


They are campaigning for a universally-accessible video relay service of the sort that the Americans have operated successfully for the past 10 years. This would enable British Sign Language users to make and receive calls at any time, with no pre-booking, and at no additional cost over a normal phone contract.


The revised EU Electronic Communications Framework, rubber stamped by UK Government, sets out a legal requirement to ensure that disabled end-users enjoy access to telecommunications that are functionally equivalent to those enjoyed by other end-users. 


Unfortunately, the UK government appears to have done nothing substantial to meet this requirement for deaf users, simply handing off the problem to telecoms suppliers such as BT, O2, Vodafone, Three, Talk Talk, Virgin Media, Everything Everywhere and BSkyB.


The deaf organisations say they talked to communications minister Ed Vaizey, and that in November, he "repeatedly called on the telecommunications industry to work with the deaf community to find solutions which meet their communications needs". 


In their letter to The Times, they tell the telecoms providers: "You have failed to meet with us in open forum in response to the Minister’s request and your silence has been deeply disappointing," and that "Positive action by the industry is long overdue. You are delaying the introduction of modern relay services, and exacerbating the isolation and disadvantage which is faced by deaf people who are denied equal access to telecommunications."


The UK does have an experimental video relay service (VRS) called MyFriend, but it requires pre-booking of calls. However, this is a pilot project run from the University of Bristol with the financial backing of the EU. It may well close this summer when the EU funding runs out, and it seems extremely unlikely that the UK government would, if asked, stump up the trivial amount of money required to establish as a permanent service. 


In parliament, Vaizey said, as an aside: "I have been struck by the lack of engagement from business and telecoms companies, which is unbelievably frustrating. In that respect, we would, for example, like to have video technology that enables deaf people to use sign language, and I have told all the telecoms operators, 'Please come to me with a cost-effective solution,' but they have not done that. Eventually, of course, I will have to regulate through Ofcom to make them do that, but it would be so much simpler if they came to me and did it." (17 Jan 2012 : Column 245WH)


The organisations backing the campaign include the UK Council on Deafness, TAG (Telecommunications Action Group), the British Deaf Association, the National Deaf Children’s Society, Sense, the National Association of Deafened People, and the Royal Association for Deaf People, as well as companies and individuals.


This week is Deaf Awareness Week in the UK, and it continues until Sunday, 13 May.

Deaf Awareness Week 7-12 May

During Deaf Awareness Week (May 7-13) Action on Hearing Loss are highlighting the barriers facing patients who are deaf and calling on local health services to commission interpreting services that use only appropriately qualified sign language interpreters reports The Belfast Telegraph (07/05/12).
New research shows that 41% of surveyed people who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language have left a health appointment feeling confused about their medical condition, because the interpretation was not of an adequate standard.
A total of 68% said they have asked for an interpreter to be booked for a GP appointment, but did not get one.
People who are deaf have the legal right to experience the same level of service as other patients in the UK.
So, to avoid unnecessary confusion, anxiety or embarrassment, it is vital that they can access communication support best-suited to their needs.
To sign our petition calling for local health services to use only interpreters registered with the National Registers of Communications Professionals (NRCP), which shows that they meet the required standard for communicating essential medical information, please click here.

Deaf Action will be taking an information stall around Edinburgh and the Lothians to mark Deaf Awareness Week, which starts on Monday reports The Scotsman (04/05/12).

It will be at Gala Bingo, Meadowbank, on Thursday, and at the Livingston, Musselburgh and Danderhall libraries on Friday.

Staff will be handing out information and answering questions about services and hearing aids or equipment.

There will also be a British Sign Language taster session at the charity’s offices in Albany Street on Wednesday afternoon.

For more information visit www.deafaction.org

The East Sussex Hearing Resource Centre has a programme of events planned for this week to raise awareness of the hidden disability that is deafness reports The Sussex Express (05/05/12)

On Friday afternoon, there will be a chance to relax and listen to some poetry, a short story or perhaps an extract from a novel. A member of the Read Aloud scheme, run by the library service, will be visiting the Resource Centre to entertain everyone. A loop system will be used for the benefit of hearing aid wearers with this facility. All are welcome. The session starts at 2.30pm and should last for an hour.

For any further information contact Teresa Davis, 8 St Leonard’s Road, Eastbourne, BN21 3UH. Tel: 01323 722505 or email: teresa@eshrc.org.uk

Gestures speak volumes

Silence was beckoning up and down the halls of a Marlborough primary school yesterday as pupils were learning to communicate without saying a word writes Ian Allen for the Marlborough Express via Stuff.co.nz (02/05/12).

Year 5 and 6 children at Rapaura School had a special class with Deaf Aotearoa tutor Hilary Foister and learned to sign their names and express their feelings.

The visit was part of New Zealand Sign Language Week, which ends on Sunday.

Teacher Hayden Van Lent said the lesson was to teach pupils awareness and an appreciation of what deaf and partially deaf people go through daily.

No verbal communication was allowed during the class from the outset, he said.

"From the very beginning, the tutor started to use sign language and the children had to respond. They really enjoyed it."

Non-verbal communication was an important part of teaching, he said.

"It goes on in the classroom anyway, particularly with behaviour management. Maybe it's a click of the fingers or a look, they are just as effective."

Patrick Neal, 9, said having a totally quiet classroom was different.

He planned to show his new language skills to his older brother after school.

Classmate Brayden Carter, 9, said his favourite sign was for "toy". He might use it on his parents.

New Zealand Sign Language Week is run by Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand and is designed to celebrate it as an official language as well as raise awareness about the deaf community.

Deaf Aotearoa acting chief executive Tony Blackett said the week was a great time for hearing New Zealanders to think about how hard it was for deaf people to do things often done instinctively, such as describing an ailment, talking to a teacher about their child's progress or asking for something at a shop.

"If more hearing New Zealanders learnt a couple of simple signs, this would greatly help to break down communication barriers. It's a fun language to learn," he said.

Through greater use of sign language and easier access to qualified interpreters and other resources, life for deaf people would be less restrictive and they could be equal members of society, Mr Blackett said.

"Every day, deaf New Zealanders are prevented from doing something that hearing New Zealanders take for granted, because of restrictions in funding or the availability of resources, like interpreters.

"It's hard work to be continually fighting for your rights."

Serve deaf clients better 'or face claims'

Law firms could face unlimited discrimination claims from deaf and hard of hearing people if they continue failing to make ‘reasonable adjustments’, consumer watchdogs have warned writes Johnathan Rayner for the Law Gazette (18/04/12).

They claim that many deaf clients feel they have to ‘win a battle with their own advisers’ before they can succeed in a legal action, blaming firms’ ‘lack of preparation and consideration’ and failure to take into account their special needs. This slowness to engage with deaf clients prompted some 1,380 complaints and enquiries to the Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD) law centre between August 2007 and September 2011, with a further 429 received in the first seven months of 2011-2012.

Most queries related to employment and welfare benefits, and to ­discrimination in the provision of goods and services. Britain has over 10 million people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Mounting concerns over discrimination have led to the announcement within the last month of two initiatives to improve ‘deaf awareness’.

According to Legal Choices, Silent Process, published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Legal Services Consumer Panel and Action on Hearing Loss, deaf clients often find that legal materials are not adapted for their needs and there are barriers to communication, such as badly maintained loop systems and poorly lit rooms. Firms often fail to provide sign language interpreters when requested, and there is confusion over who should pay for them, the report says.

The SRA says it will be issuing best-practice guidelines to address these issues, including online ‘deaf awareness’ training covering interpreting services, how the law applies, and different ways of communicating with deaf people. Case law and legal principles will be illustrated with videos, along with ­common points of law and its vocabulary.

RAD law centre head Rob Wilks told the Gazette that RAD is also to launch an initiative to ‘educate the legal profession as to the needs of the deaf community’. He said: ‘In addition to CPD-accredited training and workshops, we will be establishing a charter to which law firms committed to providing a service to deaf people can aspire to sign up to. It is intended that this will become the definitive UK benchmark for law firms and other providers to deaf people.’

NZ first Deaf MP welcomes decision to fund notetaker

Deaf MP Mojo Mathers is welcoming a decision to provide her with fully funded support in the House as a "significant step forward for the disability community in New Zealand" reports TVNZ (09/03/12). 

Speaker Lockwood Smith this morning announced he had directed Parliamentary Services, which funds support for all MPs to do their jobs, to provide the legal authority to fund electronic note-takers for Mathers.

"This support will be in addition to that to which she is already entitled, to ensure she may fulfil her role as a member of Parliament," Smith said.
 
"The cost of these services will be met from the Parliamentary Service's baseline and is additional to the funding provided to support all members."

The decision appears to be a victory for Mathers, who had previously claimed that Smith had asked her to find funding for note-takers out of her Green Party's existing allowances.

"This decision means that aspiring MPs with a disability or hearing impairment will be able to run for parliament confident that they will get the support they need," Mathers said.

"It means that parties don't have to put people with disabilities low on their list or on unelectable positions for fear that they will have to cover the full cost of their participation."
 
The Greens obtained a legal opinion from Chapman Tripp which suggested the additional funding could be legally provided by a new allocation from Parliamentary Services, rather than taken out of existing allowances for individual members.

The advice was taken to a meeting of the Parliamentary Service Commission, which met on Wednesday night.

Smith said the commission had proposed a mechanism whereby the Speaker would have "the flexibility" to fund "the needs of any disabled or impaired members" out of the allocation he had to support all MPs.

"I am disappointed that we have not been able to find a solution that gave me that flexibility," he said.

After finding no resolution on Wednesday night, Smith had decided to find a way for Parliamentary Services to legally provide funding.

Smith said his office had been funding support for Mathers in the interim, but that could not continue. The new funding from Parliamentary Services would provide the permanent solution.

Separately, Smith said he wanted to develop a captioning service to make proceedings of the House more accessible to the hearing-impaired.

"I intend working with the Office of the Clerk to develop this service and will raise this with the Standing Orders Committee which deals with such matters," he said.

Some banks ‘failing’ deaf customers

Banks and building societies are leaving people with hearing loss feeling “financially excluded”, campaigners have said reports the Shropshire Star (24/02/12).

Deaf customers are not receiving equal access to services and lenders’ increased reliance on technology such as telephone banking means they have an even tougher time, Action on Hearing Loss argued.

Campaigners said that half of those with hearing problems surveyed are unhappy with the communication methods they have with their bank or building society.
The charity found from its 6,000 members that some three quarters visit their branch in person, although less than half would prefer to communicate in this way. One third of respondents had experienced difficulties relating to hearing loss or deafness when communicating with their bank or building society.

Roger Wicks, a director of the charity, said: “Some banks are failing people, which can leave them frustrated and isolated, and can lead to them feeling financially excluded. We strongly believe that people with a hearing loss should have equal access to their banking services.”

The study argued that staff do not always understand the “text relay” system for phone communication, which allows customers to type a message which is relayed through an operator.

Action on Hearing Loss, formerly known as the RNID, surveyed 152 bank and building society branches and found that in more than half (52%) there was no induction loop or the loop was not available, switched on or working.

The charity said one anonymous customer had told them about the problems in branch, saying: “(They) try to speak with me through a glass screen. They have counter loop sign but staff don’t know what it is or how it works. There is no deaf awareness.”

A spokeswoman for the Building Societies Association said: “Building societies are very conscious of the various needs of their customers and work hard to deliver their services in a way that is accessible to each individual. This includes induction loops in branches, web secure messaging and documentation and websites available in larger font sizes.

“That said, any consumer problems are of concern and we would like to understand the detail of this survey conducted by Action on Hearing Loss.”

Deaf & hard of hearing callers will be able to text message 911

Trial program will open emergency services to hearing or speech impaired writes Gillian Shaw for the Vancouver Sun (17/02/12).

When James Henderson called 911 he was desperate to get help for his wife Nancy, who was choking. But Henderson is deaf and when he wasn’t able to communicate the details of the emergency on the call, it took more than 40 minutes for help to arrive.

The incident had a happy ending when the pill that had blocked Nancy’s throat dislodged and she was able to recover on her own. But it underscored the difficulties that people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment face when they are trying to reach 911.

It helped to spur the launch of a three-month trial announced Thursday that will allow people who can’t communicate with 911 operators over voice calls to text from their cellphones instead.

The trial, announced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, involves participants in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and the Peel Region. It’s aimed at testing the system and gathering data for a report on the feasibility of rolling out the program nationwide.

“It’s a huge safety issue for someone to be able to get hold of 911 services in a timely manner,” said Mandy Conlon, provincial accessibility coordinator for the Canadian Hearing Society’s 911 improvement project. “There are definitely people who have not been able to get a timely answer to their 911 calls specifically because of this issue, they don’t have access to 911 the way a hearing person does.”

Conlon said in the case of the Hendersons, who live in Brantford, Ont. and are both deaf, the husband left the phone off the hook and went to help his wife, believing that his call would result in emergency services being dispatched immediately.

However, with 911 call centres getting misdialled through pocket and prank calls, people who are deaf or can’t communicate with the operator for another reason aren’t able to rely on simply leaving the phone off the hook to get emergency services to their door.
The trial, in which registered participants will make test texts to 911 is expected to have at least 120 participants, about 40 in each region, said Conlon. She said the technology works with newer-model cellphones, regardless of whether they are Android, Apple or some other operating system.

Telus, which provides the back-end technology for 911 services in British Columbia and Alberta and works with E-Comm in Vancouver, is participating in the trial through its 911 work and as a wireless carrier.

Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said this is the first time texts will be able to be combined with voice calls to 911 operators. The 911 system already helps operators locate people who are calling from cellphones, relying on either GPS or the triangulation of cellphone towers.
“What this texting service does is it essentially bolts that location technology onto text messaging functionality so someone who is deaf, or who has a speech impairment and can’t talk to the 911 operator, can text the relevant information,” said Hall.

“It’s important that it works this way because it combines the powerful aspects of a voice call, particularly that location functionality with texting, and if you are unable to speak, you will be able to text information — such as ‘there’s a fire,’ ‘my spouse has had a heart attack.’
“This will help bring the best possible 911 services to someone who is deaf or who has a speech disability.”

Edinburgh MP tables early day motion in support of access for deaf and hard of hearing

The Edinburgh West MP praised the online interpreting service, which is available throughout the UK for deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users reports STV Edinburgh (01/11/11).

Deaf Action was delighted with the support in promoting the use of SignVideo. Striving for equality of access and opportunity has always been central to Deaf Action, including access to elected officials.

Mr Crockart recently became the first elected member in the UK to make SignVideo available at his constituency office in Edinburgh, and in an early day motion he has called for other MPs to do likewise. Mr Crockart is also pushing for the Government to ensure that all public information and services are accessible to everyone suffering from hearing loss.

Mr Crockart said: “As parliamentarians, we are here to represent all of our constituents in the political process. However, nine million people in the UK are being disenfranchised by the fact that they face great difficulties in accessing the information they need.

“All MPs should be working with Deaf Action and other organisations to ensure that each and every one of their constituents is able to clearly and easily understand information in their constituency offices.

“I am delighted that Deaf Action will be pioneering this new online interpreting service throughout Scotland, and to do my bit to improve information access for my constituents who suffer from hearing loss.”

Liz Scott Gibson, chief executive of Deaf Action, added: “With Mr Crockart’s early day motion we hope to encourage more MPs to think about accessibility in their constituency.
“Introducing a service such as SignVideo is a simple and cost effective way to enhance inclusion. We call on more MPs to follow Mr Crockart’s lead by signing the early day motion and making their constituency offices more welcoming to deaf people.”

The lawyers trying to give deaf people a hearing

Ten million people have a hearing problem but legal aid cuts will make woeful provision of legal services worse, finds Neil Rose (Guardian 11/08/11).

The legal system is not geared to handle the need of deaf people. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi
You don't have to look very far to find stories about deaf people who have been let down by lawyers and the legal system. There's Funmi, a deaf Nigerian who has lived in the UK since 1987 but whose solicitor did not make her citizenship application correctly; David, a self-employed man whose solicitor did not fight his corner over benefits he was entitled to for being wholly reliant on his hearing mother to communicate with clients; and John, whose union solicitor did a bad job of his disability discrimination case against a well-known financial institution. All of these people eventually turned to RAD Legal Services, part of the Royal Association for Deaf People and the country's only dedicated legal resource for the deaf. Why are there not more, especially because – with nearly 10 million people suffering some sort of hearing problem – it is potentially a huge market to serve? Its head, solicitor Rob Wilks, is not certain. "It could be because deafness is a 'hidden' disability," he says. There are small signs of this changing. Blackburn law firm Joseph Frasier will next week launch a campaign to provide legal services for deaf people under the headline: "Representing your right to be heard." Claiming to be the first private law firm dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing people, founder Saimina Virmani says it is the culmination of 18 months of preparation; the campaign was inspired by deaf staff working in the building where the firm is situated (which belongs to the East Lancashire Deaf Society) and by her experience of acting for a deaf client. She has also come across "terrible" stories of solicitors denying deaf people access to interpreters and simply not understanding the different ways they need to communicate with deaf people, such as in the way they write letters. The firm's fee-earners, none of whom are deaf, are being taught British Sign Language (BSL) and it is adapting its communication channels. "The last few months have been a journey for us and we have loved learning about deaf culture," Virmani says. "The deaf community is very tightly knit and although we see people who are deaf as being on the outside of our world, the tables have now completely turned and we are on the outside. As legal professionals we are trained to use the power of our advocacy and voice but in working with deaf/hard of hearing clients, this has essentially been taken away from us." The legal system, it appears, is simply not geared to the needs of deaf people – Rob Wilks says deaf people who use BSL as a first language often have poor literacy levels (the average reading age for deaf school leavers is 8-9 years). "This means that they cannot understand information leaflets and correspondence, or access telephone helplines using a textphone," he says. A report in 2009 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that the advice system of CABs, law societies, union sources and private firms of solicitors "are often still inaccessible to profoundly deaf customers" though the Disability Discrimination Act has been on the statute books since 1995. Now the Equality Act 2010, it requires service providers to make adjustments to ensure that a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people. This is not happening across the legal system, both in most law firms and in the courts. Part of the problem, Wilks says, is the "chronic shortage" of interpreters, but it is just plain neglect as well. One of Virmani's projects has been to build a network of law firms (now numbering nearly 50) around the country that have committed to become deaf-aware and will be able to help deaf people in their area if face-to-face help is required. The association began an advice service in 2000, transforming into RAD Legal Services in July 2007, when Wilks, who has been deaf since birth, qualified as a solicitor and the £500,000 Big Lottery Fund deaf minority advice project commenced. Over the past four years, RAD has handled nearly 1,500 cases, with employment, welfare benefits, discrimination and housing the most in-demand areas of law. It has a contract (until March 2012) from the Equality and Human Rights Commission to provide discrimination advice to deaf and hard of hearing people throughout England, Wales and Scotland. Plans for the first deaf law centre are also well underway. And there is further hope that the legal needs of deaf people will be understood. The legal services consumer panel has confirmed that the first of a series of studies into how specific groups of consumers (particularly disadvantaged ones) experience legal services will be in partnership with Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID). Emma Harrison, a member of the panel and head of public engagement at Action on Hearing Loss, says the study has come out of work the charity has been doing to improve access to the courts and hopes to highlight the pockets of best practice that exist in the legal profession. But the prospect of the legal aid cuts could worsen the situation for the deaf community, Wilks says. Aside from simply not being able to afford legal advice, law firms or other legal advice providers that have legal aid franchises will no longer be able to rely on legal aid to claim the costs of interpreters as a disbursement. "This means the number of providers willing to provide legal advice to deaf people is likely to decline." Given the low base from which this is starting, it is a woeful prospect.