The lockdown has been very detrimental to deaf people who are finding it hard to adapt to work at home policy. Technologies being used are also not catering to their needs during the lockdowns.
Three-quarters of people living with deafness fear that working from home will result in a drop in their productivity. This is according to new research that was published on Wednesday by charity Action on Hearing Loss.
Impact of the lockdown on deaf people
Lockdown has forced a lot of companies to adopt a work at home policy, and for most people, the learning curve has been steep. Learning how to use Zoom for video-conferencing meetings, teleconference calls, and learning new file sharing technologies for work submission has complicated the stay at home policy.
For deaf people, however, they have had to contend with a disability that makes the learning of skills such as video and call conferencing almost impossible. The technologies that emphasize on the users’ ability to speak and hear has posed a challenge for these demographics. The fear of being unproductive during this period has also crept in for the majority of deaf people.
The head of campaigns and public affairs at Action on Hearing Loss, Rob Geaney added that people with hearing disabilities were also more prone to isolation due to the lockdowns. While the rest of the population can still communicate with their loved ones, for deaf people, receiving calls or video conferencing calls is not an alternative they can use to keep in touch with their families and friends.
He continued by saying the situation is even worse for deaf people who rely on English sign language or lip-reading. This group requires people to be around them in order for them to communicate, a situation the lockdowns have made harder.
Difficult working environment
Geaney said the workplace environment should be accessible to the deaf. He said etiquettes such as facing them while speaking, speaking one person at a time and allocating them a seat that gives the deaf a good view of everyone in the office would go along way in trying to accomodating them in workplaces.
The lockdown has exposed the inequalities faced by deaf people, who account for 12 million people in the UK, 65 percent of working-age have jobs. It has highlighted the difficulties they face during normal working days in the UK.
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