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Sutton Borough Liberal DemocratsWorking for you all year round
Beddington, Belmont, Carshalton, Cheam, Clockhouse, Nonsuch, St Helier, Stonecot, Sutton, The Wrythe, Wallington and Worcester Park. |
Sutton Council achieves world first with web service for deaf people
July 5, 2010 11:24 AM
For the first time, deaf residents will be able to contact Sutton Council's customer services and receive instant assistance through a live connection to interpreters on the councils website.
The Council will be the first in the world to use the pioneering system, set up by Significan't UK, to ensure that deaf residents can gain the same access to its services as all other residents.
This will mean that residents can talk through a British Sign Language interpreter, who will get instant answers to their queries at any time in normal working hours without making an appointment.
By simply clicking on a link on the website, customers' webcams will connect to a specialist call centre so that they can have a face-to-face conversation and get a quick response to their queries.
Cllr Ruth Dombey, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader said:
"As a Liberal Democrat I believe in enabling people to do all that they can as individuals and as members of our community. The launch of this service is another way Sutton Council is helping our residents to access services and to live more independently.
"It's a service which will benefit hundreds of local people and hope this will pave the way for other councils and organisations around the world to follow suit.
"We want all our residents to be able to have good access to council services and are thrilled to be able to offer this."
There are around 250 deaf people in Sutton and one in seven people in Britain are deaf or have a hearing loss. There are an estimated 50,000 people in the UK who use British Sign Language as their first or preferred language.
The London Borough of Sutton is the only London Borough to have been awarded the Shaw Trust accreditation for accessibility.
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