Anyone who is Deaf or living with hearing loss will know the daily challenge of relying on lip-reading for communication. Mask wearing has exacerbated this challenge, but even without masks, most people will be unaware of a person's need to lip-read because Deafness and hearing loss are hidden disabilities.
Signal has designed a range of lip-reading badges that aim to help break down the barriers to communication experienced by people who are Deaf or have hearing loss. By wearing a badge, people who rely on lip-reading can subtly let others know that they need them to adapt their communication methods in order for a conversation to take place.
What's more, there are also badges designed to be worn by those people providing a customer service, which aim to help lip-readers feel empowered to ask the badge-wearer to lower their mask or face-covering*, in order to for a conversation to take place.
By wearing a badge, and also being aware of Signal's "Make Communication Clear" tips, customer-facing staff can make an enormous difference to the 1 in 5 people who are Deaf or experience hearing loss.
To order your lip-reading badge, click here, and to read more about our "Make Communication Clear" campaign, including how to order or download a copy of our "Make Communication Clear" A5 poster, click here.
*UK Government guidance for face coverings allows people to remove their face-covering in this instance.
