A deaf woman from Yorkshire won a claim against the government after a judge found a lack of sign language at two Covid briefings “served to disempower, to frustrate and to marginalise”.
As reported by the BBC Katie Rowley, 36, from Leeds, started court action after the sessions went ahead without interpreters on screen.
The government denied breaching its legal obligation to make broadcasts accessible to deaf people. However in his ruling, a judge said the lack of provision constituted discrimination.
Ms Rowley launched the court action against Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove in relation to the “data briefings” on 21 September and 12 October 2020.
She had argued that being unable to access the official information had caused her stress and affected her wellbeing.
Finding in her favour, Mr Justice Fordham said: “The lack of provision – the provision of subtitles only – was a failure of inclusion, suggestive of not being thought about, which served to disempower, to frustrate and to marginalise.”
The level of damages awarded to the claimant would be assessed by a county court judge, he added.
She was represented by solicitor Chris Fry from Fry Law, a Sheffield-based legal firm specialising in disability discrimination cases. He said afterwards there were another 260 pending cases against the Cabinet Office in relation to the lack of any interpreters for the beginning of the pandemic.
Activist group Disabled People Against Cuts has published the briefing notes for the case.
The Royal Association for Deaf People has also released the briefing note in BSL and an exclusive interview with Chris and deaf consultant and BSL expert Lynn Stewart-Taylor.
*A new initiative to encourage more members of the public to take up sign language as an extra language and skill, is now available locally. The Signs4Life scheme is to help people to communicate and engage with children and adults who may be hard of hearing.
Radiyya Jahan, Signs4Life partnerships officer, explains “There are more than nine million hard of hearing people registered in the UK. We have already worked with social workers, housing staff, teachers, the local NHS, and Royal Mail. We wanted to open our programmes to the general public, who might also have an interest in learning sign language. We are offering a community 6-week BSL program, which you can enjoy and access from the comfort of your homes, delivered through Zoom”. Signs4Life is leading efforts towards a society in which people with disabilities have full access and are working to raise the public and political awareness of disability provision.
For more details on the summer community programmes, you can sign up here.
