Supervision of an officer for a national charity
We were called in to help a new member of staff. This was a new area of work, and the fundraising department of this national charity had been successful in gaining funding for the work. However, because it was so new, there were no senior members of staff who had experience in the area to lend a helping hand. We were called in to help supervise and guide the staff member to complete the project. Completing the project was very important for the charity, not least to maintain its reputation and to secure future funding.
Writing a leaflet accessible to members of the Deaf Community for a national charity
We were asked to re-write a leaflet specifically for Deaf people whose first language was British Sign Language. It needed to be appropriate and understandable for people with a wide range of literacy. We needed to convey complex and sensitive issues in a direct and accessible way. Once we had prepared the text, we trialled it with a number of different Deaf people to assess their understanding of the leaflet, and how successful our re-writing had been, and then finalised the leaflet on the basis of their comments.
Research into the views of the Deaf Community into the use of signing to access television for a television company
We were asked to find out what deaf people preferred: interpreters or captioning. Ofcom had set a rule to determine what percentage of television programmes must be interpreted. We set up focus groups and invited views nationwide. On the basis of our report and recommendations, the legislation was changed by Parliament to reflect the preferences of deaf people.
Research into the services available for and the views of the deaf community in a London borough
We were commissioned to find out what deaf people thought of present services and how they could be improved. We brought in a deaf researcher who devised a questionnaire, ran focus groups, carried out individual interviews and a literature survey. We wrote a report with clear recommendations on how the provision could be improved. Other demographics in the borough had also changed during the last ten years, so we commented on the relationship of this change to the deaf population and their needs.
Carrying out consultation with parents of deaf children and summarising views
We set up focus groups for parents across the country and summarised what they said into a report. This contributed to a wider report into how special education generally could be improved.
Organising focus groups and summarising views of Deaf cinema patrons on the use of signing for films
Using focus groups and questionnaires, we produced a research report into what deaf people wanted in terms of communication support from their local cinema.
