d/Deaf and disabled access - range of courses and dates

INTRODUCTION  

This one-day course will introduce you to Deaf culture, British Sign Language and communication styles used by the Deaf community. It will provide you with the knowledge and basic tools for you to share with all staff, to develop your theatre as a space where Deaf people will be welcomed and want to be a part of.

‘really enjoyed this and feel much more confident about communicating with Deaf people’.’ Delegate, New Wolsey Theatre

‘It was BRILLIANT!  I genuinely don’t think we’ve had a staff training session that’s taken their imagination and been so well received. It was well worth doing’.

Clare Clarkson, Deputy Director, Cast in Doncaster

COURSE OUTLINE

Participants will gain an overview and understanding of the Deaf community in the UK and how this affects their experience of attending the theatre. We will discuss accessible performances, learn and practise basic BSL and work related signs, discover other communication strategies to use, try lip reading and, with this new learning, discuss theatre related dilemmas and how to solve them. A mixture of practical exercises and discussion, with plenty of time for questions and anecdotes from the trainers, this course is a fun way to build confidence when communicating with Deaf people.

SUITABLE FOR

Anybody who works with the public, programmes work, marketing teams, anyone responsible for accessible performances, audience development teams, producers, directors, volunteers

TUTORS

Jeni Draper is Artistic Director of fingersmiths, a visual physical theatre company performing plays in BSL and spoken/written English and also a freelance director. Jeni is a qualified sign language interpreter specialising in performing arts. She runs workshops and delivers consultancy for theatres nationally, interpreters and for young people.

Daryl Jackson is a sign language consultant and linguistic expert in translation. He has worked with many theatres, TV and film companies in this role, monitoring actors and presenters. He has taught Interpreting and Sign Theatre at Universities and regularly delivers workshops nationally. Daryl is also an actor and TV presenter.

LEARNING OUTCOMES – AT THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL HAVE:

• Learnt some basic BSL and other communication skills to enable you to feel confident when meeting Deaf people
  
• A greater understanding of the Deaf community and some of the barriers it faces when attending the theatre
  
• Some practical ideas to implement in your theatre to improve Deaf attendees experience
  

INTRODUCTION  

This session is designed to support you to establish principles and practice for ensuring a culture that is as straightforward as possible for D/deaf and disabled people to navigate. The aim is for you to feel more confident in employing D/deaf and disabled people across your organisations.

COURSE OUTLINE

This course will be interactive, with examples, practical exercises and opportunity for discussion and questions. We will start with the legal context for employment issues and move beyond it into best practice, and we will explore ways of approaching recruitment, managing workplace adjustments and performance reviews. We will touch on casting and engaging freelancers who are D/deaf and disabled, thought the emphasis will be on longer term employment situations.

SUITABLE FOR

Anyone working in theatre who is managing staff, or who is responsible for recruiting and engaging people to work in the organisation, including artistic personnel.

LEARNING OUTCOMES – AT THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL

• be able to approach conversations with D/deaf or disabled colleagues with confidence
• know what information you need to gather in order to meet a D/deaf or disabled colleague’s requirements
• be able to state your main duties under the Equality Act (2010) with rregard to employing D/deaf and disabled people
• have the beginnings of an action plan for ensuring equality in recruitment and employment practices
• have ideas for where to go for further information

INTRODUCTION  

Your building is perhaps your biggest and most obvious cultural artefact. What messages is it giving out to D/deaf and disabled people about how welcome they are?

COURSE OUTLINE

In this session, we will look beyond big, expensive capital projects and focus instead on action-planning for smaller, more achievable changes. The session will equip you to take a tour of your building(s), spot some of the main barriers that D/deaf and disabled people face and remove them.

SUITABLE FOR

Anyone working in theatre, since we are all impacted by our physical environemtn. However, it is particularly relevant to those with responsibility for planning and implementing capital projects and for site management.

LEARNING OUTCOMES – AT THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL

• be able to show an understanding of the sorts of obstacles D/deaf and disabled people face in the physical and sensory environments
• have the beginnings of an action plan for removing barriers in your theatre
• know how to talk about ‘access’ at your theatre, both within the organisation and in your outward-facing communications
• have ideas for where to go for further information

INTRODUCTION  

This course is designed to equip you to review your approach to marketing to ensure that you reach D/deaf and disabled people - not just as a targeted group but as part of your general audience.

COURSE OUTLINE

In this session, we will look together at examples of marketing materials to analyse the implicit and explicit messages they communicate to D/deaf and disabled people. We will discuss practical strategies for writing content and designing format for different media, discuss how technology can support audience development. We will look at specific issues such as concessionary pricing and User Groups of D/deaf and disabled people.

 SUITABLE FOR

Marketing and audience development teams and anyone with a marketing, audience development or outreach element to their job.

LEARNING OUTCOMES – AT THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL

• be able to show an understanding of the sorts of obstacles D/deaf and disabled people face in marketing materials
• know how to brief designers, create your own content and review materials to ensure that obstacles to D/deaf and disabled people are removed, or designed out
• have some ideas for developing audiences of D/deaf and disabled people in your organisation
• have ideas for where to go for further information

Michèle Taylor is Director for Change at Ramps on the Moon, the Arts Council funded consortium of mid-scale mainstream theatres seeking to increase the number and visibility of D/deaf and disabled people in the industry. She has been delivering training in disability issues for nearly thirty years and has a background as a theatre practitioner, including work with Graeae Theatre. She is committed to ensuring that D/deaf and disabled people’s stories are told in our theatres.

Michèle’s training sessions are interactive and dynamic, with space to bring doubts, anxieties and concerns as well as strategies, ideas and enthusiasm.

Michèle is a registered member of the Institute of Equality and Diversity Practitioners.

TUTORS FOR BASIC DEAF AWARENESS

Jeni Draper is Artistic Director of fingersmiths, a visual physical theatre company performing plays in BSL and spoken/written English and also a freelance director. Jeni is a qualified sign language interpreter specialising in performing arts. She runs workshops and delivers consultancy for theatres nationally, interpreters and for young people.

Daryl Jackson is a sign language consultant and linguistic expert in translation. He has worked with many theatres, TV and film companies in this role, monitoring actors and presenters. He has taught Interpreting and Sign Theatre at Universities and regularly delivers workshops nationally. Daryl is also an actor and TV presenter.