Announcement: Signal Group for Deaf Participants at OFFDEM (Brussels, Belgium)
Join our new Signal group dedicated to Deaf participants at OFFDEM 2025! Communicate in sign language, share information, and take part in discussions for a more bilingual experience.
How to join? Use the link:
Make OFFDEM an accessible event for all by joining us!
At first OFFDEM we had splendid note takers who would take notes at every session, making it very useful for deaf participants. Note taking is very hard to keep up with, so it must be organized in advance. When one is taking note they cannot participate in the conversation, and vice-versa, if one participates actively, they cannot take notes for their own speech. When that happens, scribes should be careful not to change the meaning of the speech. Sometimes it’s difficult not to do so, especially when we exchange deep knowledge, so every session should have at least two or three scribes.
Signed interventions can be relayed either by someone who can understand LSF, or typed on the pads and be spoken out – but here again, this requires discipline to keep an eye on the pad and relay the speech, but it’s fine as long as we respect turns to speak.
Anything else to take into account @seejayer?
Thank you for your ideas on accessibility at OFFDEM. I suggest adding awareness about Hearing Privilege to better include deaf participants. Here are two useful articles:
What do you think?
Best regards,