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Progress with improving facilities for deaf tourists seems painfully slow. VEE-TV investigates.
Tourist attractions in the UK continue to fail deaf people despite government-backed improvements in access standards, according to last week's VEE-TV poll. At the last count, a massive 90% said that attractions need to improve their facilities for deaf visitors.
Many of our viewers are only too familiar with the problems. 'On holiday in the Lake District, I went into a large tourist-information office where signs said they speak German, Spanish, French, and even Japanese,' says Rufus in a VEE-TV message board e-mail. 'But when I asked about BSL, they didn't know what I was on about. They then checked and said, "Oh, no, we don't do that!"'
Inadequate
The inadequacies are particularly disappointing in the light of the new tourist authority National Accessible Schemes. The schemes, extended to deaf people late last year, are intended to encourage tourist sites to improve their facilities as well as ensure that providers clearly indicate what facilities and services are available, using an array of symbols. But improvements seem to be taking a long time to filter through. Most theatres, cinemas and tourist attractions in the UK, including such flagship sites as the Tower of London and Edinburgh Castle, are not fully accessible to the nine million people in Britain who are deaf or hard of hearing, according to recent research published by the RNID. Anonymous investigators visited more than 100 attractions nationwide and discovered that:
• 50% of attractions had no loop or infrared system for deaf or hard of hearing people.
• 75% had no visible loop logo.
• 75% had no textphone.
• More than 60% had no published information specifically for deaf people.
The bleak picture is reinforced by a Capability Scotland study. Capability Scotland sent five undercover researchers to five areas of the country in autumn 2002. They found a lack of information about where disabled tourists can visit, stay or eat and that they have just a 50:50 chance of getting the right information about a Scottish short break.
Lip-service
'Many institutions are only paying lip-service to their duties to provide equal access to deaf and hard-of-hearing people,' says Brian Lamb, communications director at the RNID. He calls on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to establish a dedicated fund to help tourist attractions pay for improvements in communication.
'Attractions should train a guide to learn sign language,' says Martin Elston, a student from Bristol. 'If a deaf person had to pay for an interpreter to go to different places with them, not only would it prove very expensive, but also deaf people wouldn't be able to relax. Maybe companies could supply leaflets using BSL language as an alternative form of communication. This would be a cheaper way but would help deaf people be interested in the attractions. There are lots of things that could be done, such as having videos with subtitles or somebody on the video signing.'
Hopeful
There are some hopeful developments. Some tourist and travel organisations are already doing their bit to improve the provision of facilities and encourage others to change for the better. The AA, for example, is now in its second year of its Accessible Hotel of the Year Award. Its spokesman says that, as part of this, consideration is given to the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The recent recognition of BSL should yield some positive results, as should the additional provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act that come into effect later this year and next year. These require tourism providers to take steps to make their facilities and services accessible to guests, visitors and employees.
Have your say and tell your stories on the message board.
See our brief guide to London for sites detailing London attractions and events, including Deaf events.
Information for deaf tourists
London Tourist Board – Information for disabled visitors
www.visitlondon.com/html/index.php?pgd=9
Includes information about facilities for deaf visitors at a range of attractions.
MAGIC
www.magicdeaf.org.uk
An excellent source of information about programmes for deaf people at 14
of London's top museums and galleries. These include the London Transport Museum,
Museum of London, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, National Maritime
Museum, Photographers' Gallery, Somerset House and many more.
National Accessible Scheme
www.accessibletourism.org.uk
Details of the English Tourism Council's National Accessible scheme.
Greater London Action on Disability: Accessible Tourist Attractions Fact
sheet
www.glad.org.uk/Pages/tourist.htm
Includes information for people who are deaf or hard of hearing where available.
Royal Association for Deaf People – Quick Guides: Holidays for Deaf
people
www.royaldeaf.org.uk/simple4.htm
A handy quick guide on booking a holiday.
Disability
www.disability.gov.uk/dda
A disability site developed by the Government aimed at helping people to
find out about their civil rights. It contains detailed information about the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 which affects services including Visitor
Attractions.
Disability Rights Commission
www.drc-gb.org
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is an independent body, established
by Act of Parliament to eliminate discrimination against disabled people and
promote equality of opportunity. This site contains a wealth of information
on the help services, campaigns and publications.
'Top Attractions "Ignore" Deaf People
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1870386.stm
A story from the BBC news archive relating to the RNID report in March
2002.
London Tourist Board
www.londontouristboard.com
The official site of the London Tourist Board.
Travel England
www.travelengland.org.uk
Details of tourist information centres, destination guides, activities and
attractions.
Visit Britain 2003
www.visitbritain.com
The official site of the British Tourist Authority. Mainly aimed at tourists
from abroad but still useful.
UK Tourist Attractions and Information
www.uk-tourist-attractions.co.uk
A handy directory for finding visitor attractions and places of interest
across the UK.
SPIT
www.spit.org.uk/Search.asp
Full listings of BSL-interpreted performances.
Stage Text
www.stagetext.co.uk/forthcomperf2.htm
Comprehensive listings of open-captioned (subtitled) performances.
Arts Line
www.artsline.org.uk
Information about access to the arts in London, covering cinemas, galleries,
museums, tourist attractions, theatres and other venues.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.