- Be sure to send out invitations to your event in advance and encourage people to request reasonable accommodations. This will allow Deaf and hard of hearing people to let you know if they’ll need an interpreter or other communication access accommodations.
- Always ask people who are Deaf and hard of hearing what accommodations they prefer and what they recommend to improve communication access.
- If an ASL interpreter is at your event, talk to and look at the Deaf person – not the interpreter – when speaking.
- If you do not have an ASL interpreter at your event, use technology that allows for instant messaging such as Skype or Facebook messenger to communicate. If technology is not available, use paper and pens.
- If you post a video about your event, please caption the video, or at the very least, put a transcript of the video in the description. For example, if it’s a short video of your group chanting “DIA Today!” then write a caption that says “Here is our DIA Celebration in Rochester, NY where our group is chanting DIA Today!”
- If you have a Deaf person at your celebration and they are comfortable with being on camera, make a video about your event with the Deaf person explaining what is happening in ASL!
- Identify all speakers/presenters.
Disability Rights are Civil Rights