Through this article I aim to draw awareness to the experiences of D/deaf and Hard of Hearing people. I am a hearing person and I do not speak on behalf of the D/deaf community.
There was an excited energy in the air, with large groups all heading in the same direction – to the Motorpoint arena. Colours of gold, green, blue and pink were all around, with the anticipation of the match being palpable.
As I arrived at the arena, I met with the University of Nottingham (UoN) Sign Language Society, of which I am a member. The society is ran by a committee of hearing students within the university, teaching fellow students British Sign Language (BSL), promoting Deaf creators and drawing attention to barriers that D/deaf and Hard of Hearing people have discussed (such as issues within healthcare).
To begin the event, a student from UoN performed an ice-skating routine for the hundreds of people entering the arena. This performance consisted of various jumps and spins, wooing the audience with each leap.
Following this performance, and a tribute to the recently fallen ice hockey coach Mike Urquhart, the whole arena rose to sing the national anthem. To increase the inclusivity of this event, the UoN’s Sign Language Society signed the national anthem, allowing this activity to be more accessible and inclusive for people whose preferred language is BSL.
Sign Health describes BSL as the most prominently used sign language in UK Deaf communities. BSL consists of hand gestures, facial expressions and body language, and has its own grammar, vocab and syntax. According to Sign Health, there are approximately 70,000 Deaf people in the UK whose preferred language is BSL, exemplifying how important learning BSL is to improve communication between hearing, D/deaf and Hard of Hearing people.
Due to this event’s extreme popularity among the Nottingham Universities, being a varsity match between the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, signing the national anthem was an important way of promoting BSL within these communities. An anonymous source has commented on this, feeling as though this was a way of “bring[ing] large communities together” to promote inclusivity and interconnectedness.
While this is a positive step in promoting accessibility in events, steps still need to be taken to achieve this on a broader scale. Sign solutions has emphasised the importance of other forms of communication being used in conjunction to BSL, with not all Hard of Hearing people being proficient in it. Other ways these events could be made more accessible is through text reporters and palantypists.
Overall, there is a lack of accessibility present in events. This is an issue which has been voiced by members of the D/deaf community, with a lack of accessible adjustments (such as closed captions and musical vibration equipment) causing unnecessary difficulties for D/deaf people. An example given in The Drum is how tiring constantly lip-reading can be.
While some (such as Ted X) are taking steps to improve and promote accessibility, ultimately this should be required at all events. Although the Equality Act 2010 did introduce a legal requirement for reasonable adjustments by service providers to allow accessibility, this is evidently not enough if all events aren’t completely accessible and inclusive 14 years later.