A. Information and services in BSL | British Sign Language Plan

We share the long-term goal for all Scottish public services set out in the BSL National Plan, which is:
"Across the Scottish public sector, information and services will be accessible to BSL users."

Action	Timescale	Action By	Oversight responsibility
1. Analyse existing evidence about students, staff and prospective students who use BSL in our University; identity and fill key information gaps so that we can establish baselines and measure our progress in increasing the number of BSL users.	By 2020/21	BSL Officer with HR and Admissions	Director of Student Disability Service (SDS)
2. Provide accessible information about what BSL users can expect from the University including accessible plain English and BSL clips on the website.	By 2019/20	BSL Officer	Director of SDS
3. Promote the use of the Scottish Government’s nationally funded BSL online interpreting video relay services called ‘contactSCOTLAND-BSL’, which allows two-way conversations between BSL users and public and sector services.	By 2018/19	BSL Officer with Centre for Open Learning (COL)	Director of SDS
4. Subject to resourcing being made available, key members of staff working with students and members of the public in the following eight teams will be prioritised to learn BSL in work time to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels four to six over the life of the first plan: indicatively this should include Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student Services offices in MHSES; MHSES library; SDS; University's Arcadia Nursery; the Students’ Association; Sports Centre; Accommodation, Catering and Events; COL. Existing COL BSL courses may be utilised where appropriate. The BSL Officer will work with COL to explore opportunities to develop this provision with reference to the course planning and approval cycle.	2019/20 onwards. Further teams will be reviewed at year two of the first plan.	BSL Officer, with COL	Deputy Secretary, Student Experience
5. Where staff across the University work with students or members of the public, new job descriptions will include a desirable characteristic to have BSL skills. Priority for action will be the above eight teams.	By 2019/20	With all managers (across the three Colleges and three Groups) BSL Officer	Deputy Secretary, Student Experience
6. Encourage any other member of University staff to learn BSL for free in their own time through COL, prioritising those working with members of the public or students.	By 2019/20	BSL Officer COL	Deputy Head of Short Courses (Languages for All)
7. Signpost all University staff who work with students and members of the public to BSL awareness training, and encourage them to take up face to face training and online revision opportunities. This will include how to work with a BSL / English interpreter and how to use the ContactSCOTLAND-BSL service. This will also be offered to new members of the University staff.	By 2018/19	BSL Officer COL	Deputy Secretary, Student Experience
8. Set up a University staff/students BSL network to allow people learning BSL, especially in the priority eight teams, to practise together.	By 2019/20	BSL Officer with BSL teaching colleagues	Deputy Secretary, Student Experience
9. Invite continuous feedback from students/prospective students and staff who use BSL over the coming 18 months after adopting this plan.	By early 2020	BSL Officer with SDS and BSL working group	Deputy Secretary, Student Experience
10. Commit to reviewing/refreshing this plan which includes more local actions based on that feedback after the national progress report (due October 2020).	By 2020/21	BSL Officer with BSL working group	University Executive

This article was published on Tuesday 29 October 2024