Where is the interpreter?
Thursday 3 December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), an annual celebration of people with disabilities.
Throughout this week, as part of our IDPD coverage, our Disability steering group will be bringing you personal stories from colleagues who either have a disability themselves – both visible and otherwise – or experience of looking after someone with a disability.
Today, we have two stories focusing on hearing loss. Our first, which is from Jon Reeves, e-commerce partnership manager, highlights the importance of effective communications and subtitles.
‘Back in 1980, the Deaf Broadcasting Council collected over 100,000 paper signatures campaigning for subtitles to be provided on TV programmes,’ said Jon, who has severe hearing loss.
‘My dad helped deliver the petition to 10 Downing Street via a march through London. It was presented to the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, along with a TV with no sound, as a way of emphasising the need for proper provision for deaf viewers.
‘My dad can be seen holding the TV in the above photo, while my sister is in the pushchair on the left with my mum behind her.
‘As a result of that campaign, we now have reasonably extensive subtitles on TV programmes, but there’s still a way to go and, 40 years later, we still need to raise awareness of hearing loss and gain equal access in communications.
‘A prime example of this need can be seen in the Government Covid-19 announcements. Each devolved nation has an interpreter at their briefings. England doesn’t. This allows viewers who use sign language as their primary means of communication instant access to the information they need.
‘The resulting “Where is the Interpreter?” campaign was born to ask Boris Johnson for equal access to communications regarding coronavirus. And so, another journey and petition to 10 Downing Street took place, only this time, the petition had to be posted at a local Post Office, as ironically, they couldn’t hand it over in person due to Covid!
‘I lost my hearing fairly rapidly around three years ago and while I expected it to go, due to my family history, the speed with which it happened came as a shock. It created a lot of personal stress and worry about my career, my personal life and the future and was a particularly difficult period of my life.
‘At work, there were various challenges around communication with visiting customers and ironically, working in noisy environments such as the floor! Being in sales, I was concerned about being able to carry on as well as how customers would react to me. However, I’ve found everyone is extremely supportive and I can work just as effectively with a few adjustments.
‘I want to show that hearing loss shouldn’t stop people from developing. I’m currently studying for a Masters in sales leadership through Royal Mail. I hope colleagues in a similar position to me will see my lead and it will enable them to grow and develop too.’
Please note, both Microsoft Teams and Content on Demand have the option for users to add subtitles.
Supporting our people
As one of the UK’s biggest employers, we are committed to putting equality and diversity at the heart of our business. Call our internal disability helpline on 0800 028 6142 for advice if you are a disabled colleague or manager looking for support with organising reasonable adjustments.
If you have any questions you would like to raise directly with the network, or you would like information on how to obtain support or advice on managing someone with a disability, please email Disabilitysteeringgroup@royalmail.com.
Don’t forget, if you’re interested in joining the Disability conversation, the group has a Facebook page. Please email Disabilitysteeringgroup@royalmail.com and let them know the email address you normally use to sign into Facebook and your payroll number. You’ll then be sent an invitation to join.
