Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
Deaf and Hard of Hearing people have a great deal to contribute to Baha’i activities, and with a few accommodations can more readily take part in them to everyone’s benefit.
This is a message championed by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Task Force for the Baha’i community. Appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States, the national governing council, the task force has existed off and on since the 1980s. Today, it has four members—Naledi Raspberry, Tavoria Kellam, Jason Schwartz and Erin Salmon—who, with assistance from people like Austin Vaday, are working to educate Baha’i communities about how to improve accessibility.
The task force focuses on two groups. One is the Deaf community, members of which belong to a unique culture with a unique language—American Sign Language (ASL) in the United States. For many Deaf people, English is a second language, so ASL interpretation is key to full inclusion. The other group is people with hearing loss who primarily communicate through English and may request transcripts and closed captions for events.
With a mission of ensuring that both groups can participate in Baha’i activities, the task force is endeavoring to connect with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Baha’is and ASL interpreters, to design events with captioning and interpretation, and to support local communities as they work toward accessibility.
https://www.bahai.us/task-force-encourages-communities-to-make-accessibility-a-priority/
