Stagetext is offering free training on deaf awareness and deaf access, for arts and culture professionals working and volunteering across Essex’s cultural landscapes, on September 22nd.
1 in 3 of your customers or audience members are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing and many of them will not be able to fully access your programme at your arts, culture or heritage venue.
This free training gives you a practical grounding in text-based deaf access: what it is, why it matters and how to provide it. You will gain an understanding of what your venue already offers (hearing loops, transcripts, captions, live subtitles) and how they are used, learn hints and tips on removing communication barriers such as in noisy environments, and best practice for your venue’s deaf, deafened or hard of hearing audiences or customers.
The training is fully funded by the Essex County Council’s Cultural Development Project Fund and Creative Industries Project Development Fund, which are dedicated to developing local talent and growing Essex’s creative industries.
It takes place on Tuesday 22nd September, and is being held at Chelmsford City Museum, Wells Suite in Essex, with two available sessions, in the morning or afternoon: 10am to 12:30pm or 1:30pm to 4pm.
All our training is designed and delivered by Stagetext staff who have a wide range of lived experience of deafness, including wearing hearing aids, cochlear implants, are hard of hearing or have BSL as their first language. They understand first-hand the impact of accessibility on their enjoyment of arts and culture.
Register your place today:
How to get to the venue: directions can be found here.
Why do Deaf Awareness Training?
18 million people in the UK are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing. That’s 1 in 3 of your customers or audience members.
Deaf audiences can experience barriers to their enjoyment of cultural activities, making them less likely to return. Our deaf awareness training will provide you or your team with the skills and confidence to engage with deaf audiences, and help them become advocates of inclusive practice within their venues and organisations.
Why choose Stagetext?
When it comes to deaf awareness training, lived experience makes all the difference. Our trainers aren’t just experts in accessibility; they are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing themselves.
They have a first-hand understanding of the barriers your customers and audience members face every day, combined with real-world experience working in arts, culture and customer-facing industries. That combination is rare, and it’s what makes our training genuinely useful rather than simply box-ticking.
What you will learn:
- Why deaf awareness is important
- Statistics of deafness in the UK
- Terminology and different types of deafness including D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing
- Communication strategies for staff speaking to deaf customers and visitors
- Hints and tips on removing communication barriers such as in noisy environments or dimly lit areas
- An understanding of what venues already offer (i.e. hearing loops, transcripts, captions, live subtitled events)
- Introduction to different types of text based deaf access available (theatre captions, live subtitles, digital subtitles) and how they are used
- Easy wins for deaf access
- Best practice for your venue’s customer facing staff for deaf, deafened or hard of hearing audiences or customers
We have worked with an extensive number of organisations within the arts, creative sectors and customer services industries and previous clients include the Mercury Theatre, New Diorama Theatre, Guildhall, RADA, LAMDA, Digital Culture Network, National Theatre, Royal Society, V&A, Regents Park Open Air Theatre and many more within the cultural sector.
Register your place today:
To find out more about our training packages, visit our training page.