RNID’s deaf awareness statement

We are committed to being a fully inclusive, deaf aware organisation. Find out how our principles and values are helping us to achieve this.

RNID exists to make life more inclusive for 12 million people in the UK who are deaf, or have hearing loss or tinnitus.  

Deaf people and those with hearing loss or tinnitus experience daily challenges while at work, from a lack of support and understanding, to direct discrimination. This can significantly impact their ability to realise their ambitions and to progress in their careers.  

RNID strives to create a culture and environment where everyone who is deaf or has hearing loss or tinnitus is fully included, so that everyone can reach their potential, be fulfilled in their job, and bring their whole authentic self to work.

We approach this through the values our organisation is built on – connected, curious, insightful and passionate. Creating this culture of inclusion is what we mean by being deaf aware, and we extend this culture to everyone – our staff, our volunteers and our supporters.

Our deaf aware principles

1. We recognise that each person’s communication needs will be different (and may also relate to other disabilities or health conditions), and RNID is committed to creating the best ways of communicating that meet the broadest range of communication needs. We will never prioritise one group’s needs above another, and will always look for ways to ensure everyone is included.
2. We recognise that being inclusive takes a commitment of time from everyone – individuals, managers and teams – to ensure we are all included in conversations, meetings, workshops and networking.
3. We live by the best practice that we share with the external world. This means that we will follow the principles of deaf awareness and guidance about accessible communication that we share with others. As technology and ways of working evolve, this best practice will evolve.
4. We aim high and are determined to reach these standards. We recognise that inevitably we won’t always get it right. So part of our commitment is to always welcome feedback, and encourage everyone to share feedback in the spirit of openness and shared endeavour – whenever they see occasions when we fall short of our commitment, or opportunities to improve our ways of working.
5. We recognise the breadth of experience and choice across our communities and our staff, and are respectful of everyone’s views, acknowledging that difference is part of diversity. We recognise the importance of peer-to-peer support based on lived experience for people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. We are committed to support RNID’s Deaf Awareness Group as our primary forum for achieving this.

It is the responsibility of everyone in RNID to uphold our commitment to deaf awareness – in how we lead, how we do our jobs, and how we interact with each other on a daily basis.

How our values help us to be deaf aware

Connected

We’re naturally collaborative with colleagues and partners, and deeply connected to our communities.

This means:

• We ask colleagues about their communication preferences and follow them – ensuring people have the right communication support and that we run meetings in a deaf aware way.
• We communicate clearly, in plain English, translating some communications into BSL.

Curious

We’re innovative, outward-looking and open-minded in everything we do.

This means: 

• It is OK to ask questions – whether that is to change the set up in a meeting, so people’s faces are clear, or to find out more about a topic you are not familiar with.
• We are open to and value colleagues’ experience and input.

Insightful

We’re grounded in evidence and insight, meaning we’re confident in who we are and what we do.

This means:

• We will incorporate into how we work all emerging deaf aware best practice that we learn from our own Employment programme and external sources.
• We collate and share insight from our work and projects, and use it to improve how we work in the future.

Passionate

We’re passionate about our purpose, and dynamic and ambitious about making change happen.

This means: 

• Being deaf aware is at the heart of what we do, and we will continually learn as individuals and a charity how to improve our deaf aware practice and behaviour.
• We are positive about and supportive of all our colleagues.

If you’d like more information

If you have any questions or would like more information on RNID’s commitment to being inclusive, contact us using your preferred communication method.

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