How the deaf community can help employers

Last month we talked about how employers can recruit deaf or hard of hearing people, but there are two sides to that coin. This post will talk about how employees can help out their companies, bosses and work colleagues to make life easier for everyone.

Let people know you have difficulty hearing

Many people try to hide their disability, especially if it’s recent and they themselves haven’t really gotten used to it. This is the worst thing you can do. Let your employers and coworkers know you have trouble with your hearing. No one is going to treat you any different, and they’ll be glad you told them.

Now they are aware, they can adjust how they communicate. Speaking louder is an obvious one, but other things like sitting on your “good side” or turning background noise down to make it easier for you are all examples of small things people can do to help make your day less stressful.

But these things can only happen if you let people know you have hearing issues.

Point your company in the right direction

Many employers will be happy to make accommodations around the workplace to help you, but they may be unsure of what exactly it is you need and where to get it.

Let them know what will help deaf and hard of hearing employees, from simple things like an E-Learning course to be “Deaf aware” right up to sign language training. Even a 60 minute online training course can produce immediate results and empower your staff with improved awareness and communication skills.

The latest technologies are always a good place to start for a company, with products that can make the workplace safer for everyone. From flashing fire alarms to amplified phones, there are many ways you can help your boss improve the office.

Live captioning

One of the best suggestions you can make to improve the office for Deaf and hard of hearing is to implement live captioning.

Live captioning translates live speech in real time to subtitles on a screen. This is obviously fantastic for people who can’t hear what’s being said during a meeting, but live captioning isn’t only useful for those with hearing loss.

As the pandemic made everyone work from home, it wasn’t long before we discovered that online work meetings bring their own problems.

People talking over each other, microphones cutting out, delays in the stream and background noise all make it difficult to hear what’s going on. Live captions are a way to cut through the noise, reach everyone, and ensure all staff, clients and associates are on the same page.

Talk to us about live captioning

If live captions are something you think would improve your workplace, then tell your boss to give us a call.

Hand-picked from across the globe, our stenographers can type word for word as fast as someone speaks – and in multiple languages!

121 Captions has years of experience live captioning events, lectures, and conferences, all over the world, and we have the client testimonials to back it up.

Some of our clients are famous and respected names around the world, including the BBC, Facebook, the Foreign Office, the University of Oxford, and many more.

Contact us today if you would like to know more about how we can help you with live captioning.