I am delighted to announce North Down Borough Council has translated parts of their website into BSL. BDA (NI) and the council have had a successful working relationship for many years.
North Down Borough Council is trailblazing the way as the first council in Northern Ireland to make their website accessible to BSL users. It is hoped that other local councils will be inspired to follow North Down Borough Council’s exemplary practice and sign up to the BDA’s BSL Charter. The Council is committed to fulfilling its Charter pledges and aims to make its services more accessible to Deaf people. Shirley Poxon, the council’s Policy Officer comment’s :-
“North Down Borough Council wants to ensure everyone has access to information about our services and facilities, we are delighted that key parts of our website are now accessible to BSL users. We have been working with BDA (NI) for many years to ensure the deaf community is included in policy and operational decisions that affect them and will continue to develop this partnership and add to the accessible information on our website moving forward.”
To date the following pages of the Council’s website have been translated and will be available in BSL:
- Welcome
- What’s New (events)
- Bins and Recycling
- Births, Death, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Bangor Aurora
Be sure to check What’s New – click here
It is hoped that more and more pages will be translated into BSL within the next year. Your feedback and comments are most welcome to ensure the service meets your requirements. North Down Borough Council will continue to consult regularly with the local Deaf community so please make your views known.
We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to North Down Borough Council, in particular Shirley Poxon, for facilitating and championing this pioneering project.
Colette McMahon
Empowerment and Campaigns Officer
