This week was Deaf Awareness Week. It’s a welcome reminder that everyone should have the support they deserve when they face cancer. That’s why over the last few years we’ve been trying to make as much information as possible available in British Sign Language (BSL). And we’ve been taking steps to make our BSL videos better than ever.
Who uses BSL?
Approximately 20,000 to 50,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales use BSL as their first language. For some, they cannot read or write English at all and signing is their only way to get information about their health.
Many people assume that if someone is deaf, then they will be able to read written information. But for many this is not the case. BSL is not simply a signed version of English; it has its own grammar and structure. For sign language users, English is a second language.
Macmillan’s range of BSL videos
At Macmillan, we’ve now got over 20 BSL videos, some of which are new. And we’re always looking to produce more. We’re created videos on everything from common cancer symptoms to radiotherapy to healthy eating.
Our range includes:
To check out our videos, please click here.
These videos are in full BSL, and are developed with a specialist agency who employ deaf people and ensure they are involved in the production process.
Making our BSL videos better than ever
Following three focus groups with BSL users, we’ve made some changes to our newer BSL videos. We have:
We know that everyone is different so, by using a mixture of a signer, images and subtitles, we hope that most BSL users can access and understand the content in the videos.
Adding signing to all our videos
From now on, we will also be adding signing to every new video we produce, not just our BSL videos. Below you can see the signer we added to Ruth’s story about fatigue.
Steps like this will help us reach even more people affected by cancer. Adding a signer is a cost-effective way for us to help get our information to everyone who may need it.
We’ve written new guidelines to make sure we can easily add signing to all our videos. These include thinking about things like the background colour, avoiding text in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, and adding in pauses between speakers for the signer to finish their translation.
Tell us what you think of our BSL videos
We’d love to hear from you if you’ve used our BSL videos. Can you give us your feedback? Please contact us at cancerinformationteam@macmillan.org.uk
To see what else Macmillan's cancer information team has been blogging about, please visit our blog home page! You can subscribe to receive our blogs by email or RSS too.
We're with you every step of the way
The Macmillan team is here to help. Our cancer support specialists can answer your questions, offer support, or simply listen if you need a chat. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00.
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