Part 2: Workplace and Corporate Barriers – Accessibility Is Not Optional

Deaf people face delays in workplaces, healthcare, and public services because accessibility is treated as a “nice-to-have,” not a legal obligation.

• Access to Work delays: Many Deaf employees wait weeks or months for approval to book interpreters.

• Healthcare appointments: Booking an appointment often requires extra layers of bureaucracy, rather than allowing direct access to freelance interpreters.

• Corporate “minimum compliance”: Companies often focus on big profits and target markets, ignoring the Deaf community entirely.

  
  

Even though the Equality Act 2010 and Accessible Information Standard clearly mandate reasonable adjustments, many organisations act as gatekeepers rather than facilitators. Deaf users are forced to adapt to systems designed for hearing people, not the other way around.

Tomorrow, I’ll explore technology and AI – why innovation sometimes leaves Deaf people behind, and why human interpreters remain essential.