This information is for anyone who might ever plan any event at the University of Edinburgh. Planning your eventWhenever you share any event happening at the University, please add one of the following two sentences: If you would like to attend with BSL interpreters, please let us know [and provide clear contact information for the event organiser] If the event is being promoted less than 3 weeks before the event, or 4 weeks during semester, please add the following line: We acknowledge this event is being promoted very late and so it will be hard to find BSL interpreters. If you would like to come with BSL interpreters, please let us know and we will do everything we can to make arrangements. The reason is that BSL interpreters are in high demand in Edinburgh, and it is usually very difficult to find interpreters available for short notice bookings. That is why organising and promoting events in advance of 4 weeks promotes language accessibility, because it gives BSL users time to see the event and ask about BSL interpreting. To achieve this fully, all Schools are encouraged to plan for accessibility in their events budget allocation. Help us embed University’s BSL Plan across all eventsAdding these statements to your events, and planning for accessibility within your events budget, will help us all start to enact Principle 1 of the BSL plan: Full accessibility to BSL and for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing people. Useful links for arranging BSL interpretation Booking BSL InterpretersOrganising online accessible events Working with BSL interpreters for remote and online meetings Booking and Paying for BSL/English Interpreters and STTR Captions For more information, please consult the University of Edinburgh BSL Plan. Our contact information is below, although note the BSL Plan email address is monitored about once a month, because there is currently no dedicated BSL Officer or similar role at the University: Contact UsAUTHOR Dr Gabrielle Hodge, Chair of BSL Implementation Group DATE December 2025 This article was published on 2025-12-22
