Sign language access belongs in the plan
The full article is now available: A welcome only works when people can take part.Today, September 23, is the International Day of Sign Languages. It’s a good moment to think beyond a welcome sign and look at whether people can actually take part.
The UN’s 2026 theme is “Declaring Deaf People’s Human Rights,” with access through national sign languages at its heart. My focus today is practical: bringing Deaf people into planning, asking what communication access they need, and making those arrangements part of the event from the beginning.
At noon, I’ll look more closely at language access and the everyday choices that can make community spaces easier to participate in. Inclusion deserves more than a special date on the calendar.
Source: https://www.un.org/en/node/97859
Photo: Rwebogora / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Archival Wiki4Inclusion training, Tanzania, July 20, 2024; not today’s event.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_sign_language_interpreter_with_a_deaf_participant.jpg
