DRAM must include everyone. So where are captions?

Government cannot promote disability inclusion while overlooking persons who have hearing loss who do not use Sign Language.

South Africa’s Disability Rights Awareness Month is an important opportunity to promote equality, accessibility, human dignity and the rights of persons with disabilities. But an important question needs to be asked:

Are all persons with hearing disabilities genuinely included in the campaign, or are some communication needs still being overlooked?

Persons who have hearing loss are diverse in their communication preferences and requirements. Not everyone uses South African Sign Language (SASL) as their primary method of communication. Many communicate through spoken language, speechreading, written communication, hearing aids, cochlear implants, assistive listening devices, real-time captions or a combination of these methods.

These individuals are part of the broader disability sector and participate in the hearing mainstream. Their communication barriers and accommodation requirements deserve equal recognition.

1. Events without captions are not fully accessible

Disability Rights Awareness Month events should demonstrate the accessibility principles that government advocates. Yet, when public events, conferences, discussions and awareness programmes take place without real-time captioning, people who depend on captions may be unable to follow the proceedings fully. A SASL interpreter does not automatically provide access to someone who relies on captions and spoken-language communication.

Similarly, captions do not replace SASL for people whose primary language is SASL. Both forms of access are important. If government wants everyone to participate, communication accessibility must be planned before an event takes place, not considered as an afterthought. Real-time captions should be included as a standard accessibility provision at public disability-awareness events, alongside appropriate SASL interpretation and other reasonable accommodations.

2. Disability awareness material must reflect communication diversity

There is another concern: the way hearing disabilities are represented in public awareness campaigns. Sign Language imagery and interpreters are important representations of the Deaf community. However, when campaign material repeatedly presents signing as the primary or only visible representation of hearing disability, it risks creating an incomplete picture.

Where are the people who rely on speechreading?

Where are the people who use spoken language?

Where are the people who depend on captions?

Where are the people who use hearing aids and cochlear implants?

Where is the recognition of people who experience significant communication barriers despite using hearing technology?

Their experiences must also be recognised in South Africa’s disability-rights landscape. Representation matters. What government chooses to show, and what it chooses not to show, influences public understanding of disability.

3. Communication accessibility is a human-rights issue

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recognises the importance of accessibility, access to information and communication, and the freedom to use different forms of communication.

Articles 9 and 21 are particularly relevant. Article 9 addresses accessibility, including information and communications, while Article 21 addresses freedom of expression and opinion and access to information, including the acceptance and facilitation of different modes and formats of communication. South Africa’s White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2015) also provides an important policy framework for recognising diversity and removing barriers to participation. These principles require us to move beyond a one-size-fits-all understanding of communication accessibility.

4. Recognition must translate into reasonable accommodation

Providing universal access does not eliminate the need for reasonable accommodation. Different individuals may require different combinations of support depending on their communication needs and circumstances.

For persons who have hearing loss and do not use SASL as their primary communication method, appropriate accommodations may include:

• Real-time captions and live transcription.
• Good lighting and unobstructed views of speakers.
• Suitable seating arrangements for speechreading.
• Assistive listening systems and hearing loops.
• Accessible online meeting platforms.
• Written information and presentation materials in advance.
• Appropriate communication support where required.

These are not optional extras when they are necessary to enable meaningful participation.

5. Government must demonstrate the inclusion it promotes

We respectfully call on the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, government departments, public institutions and disability-sector organisations to review their Disability Rights Awareness Month communication and event arrangements.

We propose the following commitments:

1. No communication exclusion at public events: Make real-time captioning a standard provision, alongside SASL interpretation and other appropriate accommodations.
2. Inclusive campaign representation: Ensure that campaign posters, videos and publications recognise both SASL users and persons who have hearing loss who do not use SASL as their primary communication method.
3. Accessible digital communication: Provide captions on campaign videos and accessible written information accompanying public announcements.
4. Meaningful consultation: Include organisations representing persons who have hearing loss who do not use SASL in campaign planning and evaluation.
5. Accountability: Publish clear accessibility arrangements for public events and explain how communication access will be provided.
6. Inclusion must never become a competition

Let us be clear… this is in no way a challenge to the rights, identity or recognition of the Deaf community. SASL is an important language, and its recognition and accessibility must be protected.

However, recognising one communication group must never result in the invisibility of persons who have hearing loss who use other communication methods. Persons who have hearing loss are not a homogeneous group. They have different degrees of hearing loss, communication preferences and accommodation requirements. Many participate in the hearing mainstream through spoken language and other communication methods. Their experiences should not be confused with the distinct linguistic and cultural identity of the Deaf community.

We must recognise this diversity without creating divisions.

Our message to government is this – Disability Rights Awareness Month is not simply about celebrating disability rights. It is about demonstrating those rights in practice. An event without appropriate communication access is not fully inclusive. A campaign that represents only one communication pathway does not adequately reflect the diversity of persons who have hearing loss.

We cannot speak about leaving no one behind while leaving people behind in our communication arrangements. We ask government to lead by example. Provide captions. Provide Sign Language interpretation. Recognise communication diversity. Consult the people affected.

Inclusion means everyone belongs, and everyone must be able to participate.

 

Fanie du Toit
Mentor : Hearing Loss Matters