Giving the deaf community a voice with the means to access everyday services
Overview
Deaf Victoria is a leading not-for-profit (NFP) organisation for the deaf and hearing impaired community in Victoria, Australia. Deaf Victoria organises activities, such as training programmes and workshops, to empower the community, while actively advocating and providing information services to strengthen community participation and improve quality of life.
The challenges
Lack of access for all
Providing access to everyday services is a key focus area for Deaf Victoria. To help the deaf and hard of hearing community to better access essential services, Deaf Victoria developed a suite of advocacy and support tools to aid in the communication process.
The valuable resources provided by Deaf Victoria include advocacy graphics, pre-filled forms, Auslan videos, and essential contact information, which are especially handy when the community needs to engage with service providers in healthcare, insurance, education, and sports.
More inclusive resources
Deaf and hard of hearing people have lower literacy levels compared to the wider population, which means the communication of information and resources should fit their needs. Feedback from the community showed high preferences for self-advocacy resources that can be shared via SMS channels and easily accessible on a mobile device.
Resources were decentralized
The resources currently available were difficult to access on a mobile device. The fact that the resources were available in multiple formats and decentralised across multiple locations made it challenging for people to find what they needed during critical moments such as when medical staff refused to lower their masks temporarily in order to aid lip reading.
The solutions
Bringing all resources together
Whispir partnered with Deaf Victoria to centralise essential resources. With its rich library of toolkits and community resources collated in one place, the NFP will be able to share its resources more easily and benefit more people in the community.
Leveraging SMS accessibility
Using Whispir, Deaf Victoria can build on pre-designed templates, create customised messages, and send out communications via SMS - a frequently used channel within the deaf and hearing-impaired community.
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Deaf Victoria and Whispir both have a shared history and expertise in working on communication solutions for deaf and hard of hearing people that leads to a more inclusive Victoria. I am personally excited to see community members using their smart devices to further realise their rights.”
The result
Continuing to build a better future for all
The pilot programme is launching soon with testers from the community. Whispir will continue our partnership with Deaf Victoria to build on this work and continue to identify ways to work together and improve the lives of deaf and hearing-impaired people.
