Reg Cobb: Presenting a radio show… in sign language!

Being on the radio is something completely alien to deaf people and many hard of hearing people and when I was asked, it was something I wanted to grab with both hands.

I’ve always been a firm believer that we should never put a limitation on other people because it is assumed that they cannot do something due to their disability.

Watch Reg’s radio appearance below! (Click here if you can’t see it below)

At GDA, we all worked carefully to ensure that the show was going to sound right to hearing viewers, for example, we had to ensure that we didn’t rely heavily on facial expressions and too much BSL expressions.

I worked hard with an interpreter, going through all the commentary and it seemed to pan out well on the night. BBC Radio Gloucestershire is a very reputable radio station in the area and to actually host a show was an honour, particularly alongside the lovely people there, Jon Smith, Anna King, Chris Baxter and Chris Sandys.

We were asked to consider music so I checked with the deaf community and got some interesting responses.  Most were in favour of 80s music, due to the good beats with easy to follow lyrics and some like blues music, due to  a lower number of chords, thus less background noise.

We had a meeting with Jon Smith from BBC Radio Gloucestershire to discuss access to the radio show for deaf and hard of hearing people. We came up with the idea of live streaming on Facebook for BSL users and on GDA’s Facebook page for hard of hearing viewers to see subtitles.

Inevitably, I was nervous before going out, but I made sure I was hyped up and ready to go and the show certainly went according to plan and we got much positive feedback. We hope that this accessible radio show will be a regular feature.

Reg Cobb is the father of three humorous children and husband to his wife of 17 happy years … and has two dogs, springer and a pug! He says: “I work tirelessly for GDA, local deaf charity based in Gloucester, to improve live chances and opportunities for deaf people in and around Gloucestershire. I enjoy many sports, particularly running, cycling and swimming. I love being in the country especially on top of a hill after a run.”