British Deaf Association publishes draft ‘strategic plan’ to ‘promote and protect’ British Sign Language (BSL)

The British Deaf Association has unveiled its draft strategic plan to prepare for a British Sign Language “movement” and “promote and protect” the language of the UK Deaf community.

The 10-year plan, shared at the BDA’s first BSL Conference in London on Friday, also works towards “a good quality of life” for Deaf people – including full access to healthcare, language acquisition, an inclusive education and the “full integration” of DeafBlind people into the Deaf community.

Introducing the vision, BDA CEO Rebecca Mansell writes: “Deafness is nothing to be ashamed of. We Deaf people can excel at anything, just like the hearing people around us, if our hands are not tied by unnecessary and discriminatory language and communication barriers.

“Building on the groundbreaking BSL (Scotland) Act 2015, our language, BSL, now has official status across the whole of Great Britain with the BSL Act (2022). Legislation is finally in place that recognises BSL and commits the Government to actively promote and facilitate its use.
The hard work now begins to build the #BSL2032 movement.

“We need to deliver our vision for a world in which Deaf people no longer struggle, but instead positively thrive from birth to old age, playing a full part in British society, and British Sign Language is promoted, protected and preserved for future generations.”

Under the broader “prepare, protect and promote” banner, the BDA has six draft “themes”: early years, education, employment, health, social care and community.

Commitments from the charity from 2022 to 2032 include a pledge to campaign for low Teacher of the Deaf numbers to be “fully, rapidly and sustainably remedied”; to review whether the Government’s Disability Confident scheme is “fit for purpose”; and a “national, BSL-led review” of breaches of the NHS’ Accessible Information Standard.

Discussions with members about the plan will take place in May and June, before being voted on at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November.

Updates on progress on the strategic vision will then be provided quarterly.

The draft strategic is available to view with BSL videos on the BDA’s website.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.