Next month (May 2010), we will be asked to vote in the first UK General Election for 5 years. All the parties and politicians will be desperate to get their messages across, asking people to vote for THEM. But how much of that will get across to Deaf people? Will any of the parties talk to BSL users in a language we understand?
As far as we can see, the only party that has produced information in British Sign Language for a national election anywhere in the UK has been the Scottish Green Party. In 2007, it produced 2 videos for the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Council elections, which were held on the same day in May 2007.
The Scottish Green Party BSL Party Election Video lasted 3 minutes.
The second video explained the voting system for the Scottish Parliament and Council elections. It lasted 2 minutes.
Both videos were presented by a Scottish Green Party Spokesman, with a BSL/English interpreter standing beside him. So the first language of the videos was English, and BSL was added as an interpretation, just as party political information might be translated into other languages for ethnic minority or immigrant communities.
So – just 5 minutes of information, interpreted into BSL by one of the smaller political parties in Scotland, seems to be the only information targeted at Deaf people so far, in any election in Britain. Not really enough, is it?
The Scottish Government has recently been devoting more resources to making information available in BSL. In November 2009, it held a National Conversation Event for Deaf people in Glasgow, with a Deaf Chair and BSL/English interpretation throughout. This was filmed and made available on the Scottish Government channel on YouTube:
National Conversation Event for Deaf People in BSL.
Two recent Scottish Government consultations have had summaries translated into BSL, by Deaf first-language BSL users. First, a Consultation on the Equality Duty.
And now a Consultation on the Scottish Government’s Draft Referendum Bill.
There is an explanation on YouTube of how to respond to this consultation in BSL, or in writing. But hurry – you’ve only got till Friday 30 April 2010 to respond.
But as we head for the General Election in May 2010, how much meaningful information will any of the parties produce in BSL – preferably presented or translated into BSL by Deaf people?
More importantly, how committed are the political parties to ensuring that they inform – and consult – Deaf people continuously, not just once every few years, when there’s an election? Maybe we are voters – or potential voters – once every few years. But we are citizens of the UK – of Britain – of Scotland – all the time, all day and every day. Politicians need to recognise our rights as citizens, and make sure that Deaf people, from childhood throughout our lives, have the same access to information that hearing people have.
Citizenship and the Deaf Community is the subject of an excellent study by Dr Steven Emery, a former Research Associate at Heriot-Watt University. We are delighted to publish extracts from Citizenship and the Deaf Community, which is available in both BSL and English, on the BSL:UPTAKE website.
Not only Deaf people, but politicians, civil servants and others would understand more about Deaf people’s political rights and the barriers we face if they would take the time to consult this and other important research.
Steven Emery talked about Deaf people and the political process in a presentation that is published as APPENDIX 12 – CITIZENSHIP AND CAPACITY BUILDING in the Scottish Government Equality Unit’s ‘The Long and Winding Road – A Roadmap to British Sign Language & Linguistic Access in Scotland’.
In it he says:
“…all (Deaf) groups wanted to discuss the voting process and the role of politicians.
Some people did reflect on how they became political, but it was mostly with people believing they lacked information to make choices how to vote… more importantly, they gave evidence that politicians did not understand the Deaf community or its priorities.
That hindered their ability to engage in the political process.”
Deaf people should be engaged in the political process all the time, not only at elections. You can find out more about how this can be done in the Government and Politics section of the BSL:UPTAKE online Library.
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Posted on: April 13, 2010
Posted in: BSL Blog, Video Blog
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June 19th, 2013 at 8:14 am
Fantastic resource, how interesting that the Scottish Green Party is the only one to have produced accessible information in BSL!
Well done to their initiative. I would be interested in knowing more about how they come to decide to do so.
Also, does that mean their vote will go up amongst Deaf people I wonder? And will it give the other parties a kick to produce their work in BSL.
Keep up the great work.