Tell DeafATW and RNID about your experiences of Access to Work. **Survey deadline extended to Sunday 19th January**(BSL)

Want to do the survey now? Click this link

Watch in BSL below (or click here to go to YouTube), or scroll down to read in English:

Who is this survey for?

You can do this survey if:

• You are deaf, deafblind, or have hearing loss (BSL or English users – both welcome)
• You are over 18 and live in the UK
• You have an AtW award now OR
• You applied for AtW after 1st October 2024 (even if you didn’t get it or have stopped using it)

Important: The survey was going to close on Friday 16th January, but people asked for more time. The new deadline is midnight Sunday 18th January.

Why are we doing this survey?

In 2025, the Government published a Green Paper about possible changes to AtW. A Green Paper shares ideas and asks for feedback. AtW then ran a Collaboration Committee to help them think about changes they could make. Your answers to this survey will help us be ready to evaluate any changes and challenge them if necessary.

Even before any changes to AtW many of you will know people who had big changes when they renewed their AtW award. I know people who:

• Had their award cut by 50% or 80%
• Were limited on how many hours they can book interpreters each week
• Had changes to the hourly rate they can pay
• Had no changes at all

Access to Work’s computer systems are old. They can’t keep information about how many people have had budget changes or what happened because of those changes.

DeafATW and RNID are doing this survey to collect this information and understand the experiences of people who use AtW. We can share this information with the Government, so they know the impact of any changes. And with this data, we can understand what is happening and campaign more effectively.

More people filling in the survey = stronger evidence = better campaigns

We need responses from people with good experiences AND bad experiences. Both are important.

Already completed the survey? Thank you!

Now please:

• Share with colleagues and friends who use Access to Work
• Post on social media and explain why this matters
• Help someone who might need support with the survey
• Only four days left!

Survey link: https://emea.focusvision.com/survey/selfserve/4545/251003?list=3#?

Questions? Email darren@deafatw.com or panel@rnid.org.uk

This article is by Darren Townsend-Handscomb working as DeafATW.