Deaf Awareness Week 2026: ‘Right to understand – Together, we break barriers’

Deaf Awareness Week is a yearly important opportunity to pause, reflect, and learn about Deafness— but more importantly, it is a call to action!

Each year, this week invites us to go beyond basic awareness and towards meaningful inclusion of Deaf people in every part of society: education, healthcare, employment, public services, and community life.

Too often, Deaf Awareness Week is treated as a moment rather than a movement.

Posters are shared, facts are circulated, and then attention moves on. For Deaf people, however, the challenges associated with access, communication, and equality exist every single day. Awareness is only the starting point; true inclusion requires understanding, commitment, and change. This involves every one of us!

One of the most important things to recognise is that Deafness is not simply about hearing loss. For many Deaf people, particularly those who use British Sign Language (BSL), Deafness is part of a rich linguistic and cultural identity. BSL is a fully recognised language in the UK, with its own grammar, structure, and history.

Yet despite this recognition, Deaf people still face significant barriers in accessing information, services, and opportunities in their own language.

In healthcare settings, for example, Deaf patients regularly experience communication barriers that impact safety, dignity, and outcomes. In workplaces, Deaf employees may be excluded from meetings, informal conversations, or development opportunities due to a lack of reasonable adjustments. In education, many Deaf children still struggle to access early language, which is fundamental to lifelong learning and wellbeing.

Deaf Awareness Week is a chance for organisations and individuals to ask themselves some honest questions. Are Deaf people able to access our services independently in the same way hearing people do? Do we routinely provide interpreters or captions rather than treating them as exceptions? Are our communications genuinely accessible, or only accessible in theory? Inclusion cannot rely on Deaf people having to repeatedly advocate for their basic rights.

Learning even a small amount of BSL is one powerful step. It sends a clear message that Deaf people belong and that communication is a shared responsibility. Equally important is challenging assumptions — such as the idea that subtitles are “good enough for everyone” or that technology alone can replace human access and understanding. Subtitles are a written translation of speech, as opposed to captions which include reactions and emotions, providing a fuller experience (did you know that?)

For Deaf children, early access to language is life changing. When Deaf children are supported to learn BSL early, they gain confidence, identity, and a foundation that allows them to thrive. And that’s why my husband and I have started learning BSL as soon as our Deaf daughter Everly was born, to enable her to have full access to communication – which technology (like cochlear implants or hearing aids) doesn’t provide due to challenges linked to environmental noise, ear anatomy and many other ones.

Deaf Awareness Week is also about recognising this right: every Deaf child deserves full access to language from the very start. I am a campaign ambassador for the ‘BSL in our hands’ campaign ran by the British Deaf Association (BDA). Please consider supporting our campaign: https://bda.org.uk/bsl-in-our-hands/

This week should inspire us not only to listen, but to act. Inclusion is not about goodwill; it is about equity.

As Deaf Awareness Week reminds us, accessibility is not an optional extra — it is essential.

Let this be the week we commit to lasting change, ensuring Deaf people are not just seen and heard during awareness campaigns, but valued, included, and respected every day of the year!

Together, we break barriers!

Thank you, Paola & Everly

Paola Brolis, Senior Business Manager, NHS North East London