Deaf Awareness Week  

Here are some steps and tips that we can all take to make meetings - virtual and in-person - deaf aware that you can share with meeting organisers and attendees.

Levels of hearing loss, communication methods and use of hearing technology can vary widely, so if you have a colleague or student who is deaf or has hearing loss, ask them what you can do to make communication easier so that everyone is included. 

Here are some steps and tips that we can all take to make meetings – virtual and in-person – deaf aware that you can share with meeting organisers and attendees.  

• Check in advance with plenty of time if anyone needs communication support – such as a sign language interpreter or notetaker – so that you can arrange if needed. 
• Don’t speak over other people in the meeting so it is clear who is speaking. 
• Use visual clues like raising your hand – physically or virtually – before speaking. 

• Make sure each person is well lit and close to the camera.  
• Circulate an agenda in advance so that everyone has clear reference points to follow. 
• Consider asking an attendee to take minutes, but avoid asking an attendee with hearing loss so that they can focus on following the meeting and potentially lipreading. Share the minutes as soon as possible after the meeting.  
• Make sure you have the attention of the person who is deaf or hard of hearing – face the person when you are speaking without turning away. 
• Maintain a normal volume when talking, use plain language that is easy to understand and don’t speak too quickly or slowly. 

• Consider enabling turning on live captions in Teams meetings (click on ...more to find that function) and as meeting host in Zoom enable live captions for everyone at the beginning of a meeting.