Tim Scannell: InSignLanguage Ltd and our commitment to accessibility

My name is Tim Scannell, and I work for InSignLanguage Ltd. I was raised in a hearing family yet being deaf I am a fluent BritishSign Language user, as this is my first language. Therefore, my communication preference is BSL, ASL and International Sign Language.

I completed a university degree in computing. I love to meet people of different nationalities, cultures, learning ways of communicating and foods. My work placement was actually in the Middle East and America, working with Deaf children and Adults prior to them attending university.

InSignLanguage Ltd is a Deaf and Interpreter led company that focuses on breaking down communication barriers that deaf people face in everyday life. Accessibility is at the core of all that we do, with 85% of our permanent employees being Deaf, we have a strong understanding of the multi lingual abilities and challenges our staff and customers face, so we can deliver exactly what is needed.

We provide VRS services, F2F interpreting services, Career Advocacy and Deaf Awareness workshops. We understand that Deaf people are often side-lined when accessing mainstream opportunities because of communication barriers, a limited ability to read and write English, and a lack of Deaf awareness in a dominantly hearing society.

Liz Hood founded this business in 2017 and holds the majority of shares. She is an experienced technology entrepreneur having been part of a team which successfully took a laser technology business to an IPO.

Liz is an Accountant and is passionate about Accessibility. And, with a competent Deaf team, understands how to resolve inequality by creating ease and simplicity around accessing qualified interpreters for their communication needs instantly through our own in-house developed technology.

For an idea of an ‘average day at work for me,’ I start work at 9am, usually with a team meeting with my colleagues. We go through what we have planned for the day and week. I then have meetings with companies or organisations. I send emails out about our services, prepare the newsletter for the month, have a meeting with our CEO about my work. Throughout the day I make phone calls using our VRS service to talk to potential clients.

As a small company, we have faced the challenge of being trusted and getting our name out there in the community. We overcome this challenge by being consistent in our delivery of our services. We listen to our clients and make sure that we are meeting their needs and that they feel supported and that they are getting the best service. We are also working hard to support the community and we have been sponsoring a Deaf football team for roughly two years now.

We hope to change and influence the mindset that ‘we are stronger together.’ We are passionate about accessibility and would like to forge healthy competitions and partnerships so that together we can change not only Laws but also support deaf individuals become fully independent, getting full access to services and information like their hearing peers.

We now provide VRS services to CrossCountry trains. This involves working closely with their Customer Relations team. Now deaf customers can phone the team with a BSL interpreter and get help and support with their journeys, tickets and with booking assistance. The VRS service is open throughout their opening hours.

Our ambitions are to make BSL accessibility the norm. We hope to support companies, organisations and businesses make their services accessible so that a deaf person can decide to attend, use or get in touch with whomever they need to, right there and then without waiting for a week to do so.

What’s next for me and InSignLanguage? I would like to continue working as a Business Development Consultant, as I have been since October 2020. I am working for InSignLanguage three days per week. Currently, I am also attending a BSL Level 6 course. After this, I could then have various other roles, such as, consultancy, Mentoring, Translating and Interpreting.

For InSignLanguge, we hope to realise our dream of making services accessible for deaf people and continuing to support them in being independent by having access to information in their first language. I would like our company to be recognised and trusted in the deaf world. We aim to build partnerships with different deaf lead companies and organisation so that we can work together for the greater good of the deaf community.

For more information see http://www.insignlanguage.co.uk/