National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Reaching Out to Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing People: Developing a “Deaf-friendly” Website Matthew J. Starr, MPH National Center for Deaf Health Research Department of Community & Preventive Medicine University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY This presentation was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 5-U48-DP from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the presenter and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Objectives Gain basic understanding of Deaf culture & perspectives; Increase awareness of what makes a “Deaf-Friendly” website; Identify resources for community-based collaboration.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Working with Sign Language Interpreters Maintain Proper Eye Contact A deaf person will usually watch the interpreter to follow what is being said. However, when the interpreter is voicing for a deaf person, attention can and should be focused on the deaf person, not the interpreter. When proper eye contact is not maintained (the hearing person is not directly looking at the deaf person), the deaf person can feel ignored or left out. With one exception !

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center What should you call me? 1. Alternatively Hearing12. Hearing Disabled 2. Auditorially Inconvenienced 13. Hearing Handicapped 3. Communicatively Challenged14. Hearing Impaired 4. Deaf-and-Dumb15. Just Different 5. Deaf as a Post16. Partially Deaf 6. Deaf-Mute 17. Sensorially Ungifted 7. Deaf18. Thick O’ Hearing 8. deaf19. Tin Ear 9. Deef20. Tone Deaf 10. Differently Abled21. Totally Deaf 11. Hard of Hearing 22. “deaf as a door nail”

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Deaf People Deaf people rely primarily on vision to communicate.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Culturally Deaf People American Sign Language (ASL) is the primary language of the Deaf community. The uppercase "D" refers to a specific sociocultural group whereas the lowercase "d" is used when a more general reference to hearing loss is intended.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Hard-of-Hearing People People who are hard of hearing rely primarily on hearing with the help of amplification. Not part of Deaf culture. Baby Boomers.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center The Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities are not homogenous. People who are culturally Deaf People who are oral deaf People who are hard-of-hearing People who are late-deafened People with cochlear implants People who are D/deaf-blind People who are D/deaf with additional disabilities Each of these groups has very different communication needs and cultural distinctives.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Perspectives: Cultural Model Acceptance of ASL as a language and uses it everyday Indicated as capitalized “D” Embraces the values, mores and ways of the Deaf Is viewed as a language minority (such as those who speak Spanish) Jessica Cuculick, MSW, Deaf Strong Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center, September 2006

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Perspectives: Medical Model Broken/fix it principle Rejection of ASL as a language Indicated as a lowercase “d” Deafness is viewed as a disability “Hearing Impaired” is a term often used Jessica Cuculick, MSW, Deaf Strong Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center, September 2006

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Deaf-Friendly Website Design Cultural Sensitive Terminology Captioning American Sign Language Backgrounds and Contrasts

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Culturally Sensitive Terminology DisrespectfulRespectful Hearing Impaired Deaf-Mute Deaf and Dumb Deaf Hard-of-Hearing

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Culturally Sensitive Terminology Sample Website:

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Captioning Pros: Accessible to oral deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Cons:Not accessible to ASL users.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Captioning Sample Website: om/justaskme/streamingengl ish.html#Flash

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Captioning Resources ques/captions/

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center American Sign Language ASL is a visual language created by Deaf people. ASL is neither written nor spoken language. ASL is a fully developed, natural language which has no grammatical relationship with English. ASL is not an universal sign language.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center The ASL Community: Issues of Readability English is their second language. Oxford English Dictionary: 60,000 words ASL: Approx. 10,000 words Classifiers: Handshapes used in American Sign Language to show movement, location and appearance.

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center The ASL Community: Issues of Readability National Association of the Deaf

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Issues of Readability: NAD Website Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Score:  General population: Aim for 7 to 8.  NAD: 16 Flesch Reading Ease Score:  The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document.  General population: Aim for 60 – 70.  NAD: 25

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center The ASL Community: Issues of Readability What matters deafness of the ear, when the mind hears? The one true deafness, the incurable deafness, is that of the mind. Victor Hugo

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Sample of ASL/Captioning website: Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Sample of ASL/Captioning website: Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care public/program/pubhealth/flu/flu_05 /factsheets/flu_mythsfacts_asl.html

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Sample of ASL/Captioning website: Sorenson Communications ex.php

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Backgrounds and Contrasts

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Sample of Backgrounds/Contrasts website: AT&T

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Who benefits? People who are/with: ASLCaptionContrasts culturally Deaf  oral deaf  hard-of-hearing  Late-deafened  cochlear implants  D/deaf-blind  D/deaf with additional disabilities 

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Developing “Deaf-Friendly” Websites: Collaborate with the Deaf Community! Identify Deaf community leaders Interpreting Services Pitfalls of working with some deaf web designers

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Collaborative Resources World Federation of the Deaf National Association of the Deaf (USA) Canadian Association of the Deaf

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Recommended Readings Dolnick, E (1993) Deafness as Culture The Atlantic Monthly Baker-Shenk, C & Kyle, J.G. Research with Deaf People: issues and conflicts, Disability, Handicap & Society, Vol. 5, No.1, 1990

National Center for Deaf Health Research Rochester Prevention Research Center Afterthoughts