THE team at Specsavers Harlow has taken a significant step forward in accessibility and inclusivity by completing a six-week introductory course in British Sign Language (BSL).

The course, which was completed by 13 members of staff, covered vocabulary basics and key terms specific to Specsavers. The training allows the team to better assist customers who use BSL from the moment they enter the store right through to their eye tests.

Sarah Flowers, Retail Director at Specsavers Harlow said: “We want to be able to provide to care to all of our patients that walk through our doors, which is why it was so important to the team to learn some British Sign Language.
Working with Simply Signed, we were able to learn specific signs relevant to our day-to-day lives and ensure that everyone feels welcome when they visit us”.

The course has been such a success that some of the staff have decided to further their skills by enrolling on Simply Signed’s Level 1 BSL course, which will be held at Passmores Academy starting in September and open to everyone to apply.

This initiative is part of the store’s wider goal to be as accessible as possible, ensuring that all customers receive the same high-quality experience. Whether it’s guiding a customer through a routine eye test or helping them select the right pair of glasses, the team is now better equipped to communicate effectively with BSL users and have the understanding of their communication needs.

Tamara Hudson, from Simply Signed, a BSL training provider in Harlow, says “It is refreshing to see businesses, especially those that are have front line staff, are taking steps to ensure that their business meets the communication needs for their Deaf customers, who currently face so many barriers in their every day lives.
Its been a long fight to get BSL to a legal status, which successfully was granted in 2022.
The BSL Act gives the recognition of BSL as a language and enables inclusion and equality.
We want to continually put BSL at the forefront and will assist businesses to enforce some Deaf Awareness or BSL training to the workforce, to ensure that the Deaf community are able to access services in their language, which is their legal right”.

“Additionally, it isn’t just businesses that can benefit from this training, community individuals can also benefit from this life skill too. As having the ability to hear, is very much taken for granted and when this sensory is lost so suddenly, the impact it has on the individual is immense, causing communication issues, which in turn, could suffer isolation”.

For more information on BSL Courses or to enrol onto Simply Signed’s BSL Level 1 course starting in September, at Passmores Academy, please email [email protected].