deafaccessresearchgroup
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AS a UK resident I have for many years experienced disability discrimination and I got so fed up with it that last year I founded the DEAF ACCESS RESEARCH GROUP.
Our terms of reference can be seen on the right hand side of our blog
D.A.R.G
This is July 2013 and in the UK, deaf and sensory -impaired people still have difficulty in making a simple GP appointment as the vast majority of UK surgeries do not have on-line booking facilities. Our first report showed that in wales 90% of all welsh GP surgeries fail to comply with the UK Equality act, especially sec 29(7) which deals with the need to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.
Likewise deaf and hip people are unable to access the out of hours GP service after 18.30pm as the contact facility is phone only.
UK hospitals do not automatically provide signers for out patient clinics or hospital in patients.
Our hospitals do not provide subtitles on the pay television sets at the end of patients' beds.
Most of our churches have dispensed with hymn boards so we have difficulty in knowing what hymn to sing at a service.
Our universities provide very little help to deaf students at lectures and tutorials.
The list goes on and on.
In the UK, our deaf charities have done over the years absolutely nothing
to eliminate the above examples of daily discrimination.
So the deaf access research group was born. We have published so far 2 major studies, one of which was picked up by the UK BBC news web site
and which gave us great publicity.
Now we are moving in a new direction. In a few weeks I am bringing to court at my own expense, the first ever UK case against a major energy company's web site which refuses to accept the TEXTRELAY 18002 prefix in its telephone boxes.
Whilst from a legal angle the case is solid I may not receive sufficient damages to cover my costs. Such is life in the UK. Legal aid has been almost completely abolished for disability discrimination cases and the free mediation and reconciliation service has been abolished.
SO what can we as a deaf community do to stop what we see as the endemic discrimination against deaf people in the UK.
The deaf access research group has published reports and is now taking legal action.
On behalf of the group can I please implore everyone in this forum where possible to follow our actions. We simply can not depend on deaf charities to fight out cause.
Two deaf legal cases recently caught my eye.
In the UK, a deaf postman was awarded 5k against a taxi firm which refused to accept a TEXTRELAY phone call, and in the USA, a deaf woman lost a case against e-bay under the ADA, as she was unable to phone e-bay to confirm her security tag when setting up her account.
Rightly or wrongly, the deaf access research group strongly believes that the only recourse open to us to eradicate disability discrimination against deaf people is by legal action.
We would very much welcome the views of others here and we would love to hear of anyone's experience with taking legal action in their country.
Next year The European Court of Human rights is hearing a submission from the deaf access research group, requesting a major change to UK discrimination laws.
We will of course keep you all informed of the progress of that case.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and please do all you can to FIGHT AGAINST DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION in our society.
have a nice day ian
Our terms of reference can be seen on the right hand side of our blog
D.A.R.G
This is July 2013 and in the UK, deaf and sensory -impaired people still have difficulty in making a simple GP appointment as the vast majority of UK surgeries do not have on-line booking facilities. Our first report showed that in wales 90% of all welsh GP surgeries fail to comply with the UK Equality act, especially sec 29(7) which deals with the need to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.
Likewise deaf and hip people are unable to access the out of hours GP service after 18.30pm as the contact facility is phone only.
UK hospitals do not automatically provide signers for out patient clinics or hospital in patients.
Our hospitals do not provide subtitles on the pay television sets at the end of patients' beds.
Most of our churches have dispensed with hymn boards so we have difficulty in knowing what hymn to sing at a service.
Our universities provide very little help to deaf students at lectures and tutorials.
The list goes on and on.
In the UK, our deaf charities have done over the years absolutely nothing
to eliminate the above examples of daily discrimination.
So the deaf access research group was born. We have published so far 2 major studies, one of which was picked up by the UK BBC news web site
and which gave us great publicity.
Now we are moving in a new direction. In a few weeks I am bringing to court at my own expense, the first ever UK case against a major energy company's web site which refuses to accept the TEXTRELAY 18002 prefix in its telephone boxes.
Whilst from a legal angle the case is solid I may not receive sufficient damages to cover my costs. Such is life in the UK. Legal aid has been almost completely abolished for disability discrimination cases and the free mediation and reconciliation service has been abolished.
SO what can we as a deaf community do to stop what we see as the endemic discrimination against deaf people in the UK.
The deaf access research group has published reports and is now taking legal action.
On behalf of the group can I please implore everyone in this forum where possible to follow our actions. We simply can not depend on deaf charities to fight out cause.
Two deaf legal cases recently caught my eye.
In the UK, a deaf postman was awarded 5k against a taxi firm which refused to accept a TEXTRELAY phone call, and in the USA, a deaf woman lost a case against e-bay under the ADA, as she was unable to phone e-bay to confirm her security tag when setting up her account.
Rightly or wrongly, the deaf access research group strongly believes that the only recourse open to us to eradicate disability discrimination against deaf people is by legal action.
We would very much welcome the views of others here and we would love to hear of anyone's experience with taking legal action in their country.
Next year The European Court of Human rights is hearing a submission from the deaf access research group, requesting a major change to UK discrimination laws.
We will of course keep you all informed of the progress of that case.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and please do all you can to FIGHT AGAINST DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION in our society.
have a nice day ian