SUMMARY OF WRITTEN SUBMISSION
FROM BRITISH DEAF ASSOCIATION
(NORTHERN IRELAND) –
Sign Language Bill
The Northern Ireland Assembly is
debating the Sign Language Bill.
To help them do this, its Communities
Committee asked for feedback from any
person or group – either via video
on WhatsApp or in writing.
The BDA (NI) submitted a written
response and this is a summary of
what that included.
BDA fully agrees with the proposed new
law with one exception (more on that later).
However, we are calling for the Bill to
go even further and will give more details below.
1) Do you feel Clause 1 goes far enough
in formally recognising BSL and ISL as
languages of Northern Ireland?
BDA believes yes Clause 1 of the Bill is
strong enough. The Bill will give Sign Language
the same rights as other spoken languages
such as Irish and Ulster Scots while not
affecting or impacting other important
laws that might apply to an individual -
such as the Disability Discrimination Act
or Human Rights Acts.
The Act will also bring NI in line with
other parts of the UK where Sign Language
is already given equal status.
2) Do you feel Clause 2 goes far enough
in promoting the use of BSL and ISL and
developing deaf culture?
BDA welcomes the approach of viewing
signing not as a disability issue but a
linguistic minority matter.
However, we notice that decisions
are often made in relation to deaf services
or sign language services without meaningful
deaf input. We want to see a more
robust way of including Deaf signers in
the process of planning, delivering and
evaluating. We want to see a commitment
to invest in developing
Deaf leadership in these areas.
We also welcome the proposal that
sign language classes for families with
Deaf children will become
a statutory provision.
BDA advised on the need for Deaf signers
to be able to use technological advances,
in the same way VRS became crucial
during the Covid pandemic and increased
use of BSL/ISL in the media and schools.
We also repeated the important of
Deaf signers being involved and leading
at all stages of the introduction of these
new ways of working.
We also said the Department for
Communities should support members
of the deaf community to develop their
skills and capacities towards taking
leadership roles in designing and
delivering policies to implement
access to sign language.