BREAKING: British Sign Language users can call 999 via video relay from next year, Ofcom announces

Posted on June 22, 2021 by


Ofcom - making communications work for everyone.

Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users who need to contact the emergency services will soon be able to do so via a new video relay service (VRS), the communications regulator Ofcom has announced.

It comes after the organisation launched a consultation on the issue in December 2019, when they proposed that communications providers should be required to make a free, 24/7 VRS available for BSL users. A further consultation followed in February this year.

Deaf people can already contact 999 through the Emergency SMS and text relay services, but Ofcom said these services “can lead to misunderstandings for British Sign Language users” in emergencies because they “rely on written English”.

“So, we are now requiring telephone and broadband companies to offer a free, 24/7 video relay service for BSL users to contact the emergency services, via a dedicated mobile app and website.

“Enabling BSL users to use their first language will make it easier for them to get the help they need for them and others in emergencies. They will be better able to describe the nature of the emergency and understand potentially life-saving instructions from the emergency services,” an article on Ofcom’s website reads.

The regulator has also confirmed that the service will be free for all users, with no registration required and any mobile data used by an individual to contact the emergency services being ‘zero rated’.

Telecoms providers can either offer the 999 VRS themselves, or hire another another company to do so, but either option must be approved by the regulator after meeting specific criteria published today.

Potential suppliers have until 1 October to submit applications to Ofcom, who will then consult on any VRS proposals in November.

Telecoms providers will have until 17 June next year to introduce the emergency VRS, as the companies will “need time” to contract an approved provider and prepare for the service’s implementation, the watchdog said.

Deaf charities have since welcomed the news of the service, which Ofcom estimates will save at least two lives a year.

Ralph Nattress, chair of the UK Council on Deafness, said: “We welcome this in principle decision from Ofcom and recognise there is now a lot of work required over the coming year before the service is up and running.

“We are encouraged by the positive and constructive work carried out by Ofcom to arrive at this decision. [We] trust Ofcom will continue to engage with the deaf community and ensure that any approved provider offers a service which works for and with BSL users – and that a year of continued cooperation can create a system that truly works for the deaf community.”

James Watson-O’Neill, chief executive at the Deaf health charity SignHealth, added: “This is a breakthrough for Deaf people and means one more step forward towards equality. But what happens when the ambulance arrives?

“The paramedics won’t be able to sign and there is no national video relay service in England to support them to communicate with Deaf people. We won’t be satisfied until Deaf people have full and equal access to services, particularly lifesaving health services.

“We call for a national video relay service to be urgently commissioned so that NHS staff can communicate with Deaf people throughout the health service, and we are ready and willing to work with the NHS to make that a reality.”

Meanwhile, Roger Wicks, associate director of insight and policy at the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) said the charity is “thrilled” by Ofcom’s decision.

“This will have a huge impact on those that need to access this service in their primary language of BSL. We would like to thank the deaf community for helping us to campaign on this issue and we are proud that we have achieved something which will ultimately save lives.”

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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