Aim: To improve access to services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Impact: We installed induction loop and infrared systems at more than 500 locations to help service providers communicate better with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Almost 100 members have given us their feedback on induction loop provision in over 500 shops and services. The more feedback we receive about loop systems not working, the more easily we can identify and target the worst offenders.

Aim: To change the attitude and engagement of service providing organisations to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Impact: More than 5,900 individuals have received our Deaf and Disability Awareness (DDAT) or Start to Sign training (which teaches basic British Sign Language), almost a fifth of whom are frontline staff at Primary Health Care Trusts and Health Boards. The remainder was delivered to a mixture of public and private sector organisations helping to improve access to services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. We also set up 56 Training Access Points (TAPs) throughout the UK, which allow people to access such training quickly and conveniently. They were attended by people from a wide range of sectors and professions, to improve the service they provide to customers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

See our impact in Wales.

Aim: To make volunteer bureaux, and organisations offering volunteer placements, more accessible to prospective volunteers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Impact: We have increased the numbers of volunteers who are deaf or hard of hearing by supporting them in their volunteer roles. We have delivered deaf awareness and communication training to staff and volunteers within volunteering organisations and distributed our Volunteer Support Pack to targeted organisations.

Aim: To consult our members on their needs and experiences, to ensure that we are providing services and campaigning on the issues that matter to them most.

Impact: Our annual survey continues to be highly successful, with a response rate of almost one in three. We will use the results, and comparisons with earlier surveys, to inform our continuing work in improving access to health care and other services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

An online survey taken by 630 members revealed that their main problem when watching TV was subtitles, closely followed by background noise.  Typical subtitling problems were their incompleteness, poor sense, poor spelling and unavailability, especially on satellite and cable channels, and on internet-based 'catch-up' television. These crucial results will inform the direction of our future TV access campaigns.

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