BT's pioneering approach towards inclusiveness reached new heights in May when the company launched BT Sign, a new website resource for deaf people.
The site uses broadband and video to provide information about the company's products and services in British Sign Language (BSL). BT is first FTSE 100 company to offer its customers information in this way.
Already BT Sign, which in its first week it attracted more than 11,000 page views, has been hailed by users as a major step forward in improving access to information for deaf people.
Fiona Miller, national manager for Age and Disability Action, and one of the team that helped conceive and develop BT Sign, was highly encouraged by the reaction to the site.
"We are always looking at ways to make information as accessible as possible and it's great that people using sign language, whether consumers or business people, can now find out more about us and what we do. This is a great example of the benefits of broadband and really enhances BT's reputation as an inclusive company. It confirms our position as a leader in disability services."
The project to create BT Sign began when Fiona and her team wanted to extend what was offered by their well received BT Age and Disability website.
"The need for accessible websites is well-recognised among the web developing community but there's still a tendency for organisations and developers to focus on the needs of those with visual or motor impairment," says Fiona.
"In the UK there are around 50,000 people who use BSL as their first language. Many more us it as their second. We felt that broadband technology was ideally suited for users of BSL because it's a visual language - and broadband supports video extremely well."
"So last year we produced an online broadband guide - which was stage one of the project. At that time we asked people if they found the site useful and if they'd like to see information presented in BSL. They told us 'yes' and 'yes' very clearly."
Fiona and her team then worked very closely with web developers and multi media team, all themselves sign language users, towards stage 2 of the project - the creation of BT Sign.
"We found that web designers with hearing impairment brought their own unique understanding of accessibility issue to the project," says Fiona. "Working with them also enabled us to become as innovative as possible when building some of the site's features. For example, the BT Sign site has been designed so that deaf and partially-sighted users can zoom in and out of clips easily. We also support all the video clips with plain English so we are being inclusive as we can."
Another innovative touch coincided with the actual launch of the site. "My colleague Emma Williams from BT's CSR team had the idea of producing the launch press release in BSL as well - I think that worked really well," she says.
Adds Fiona: "I'm proud that BT has become the first FTSE 100 company to use BSL over broadband to reach deaf people, in fact there really are few, if any UK businesses providing this."
"I'd really like to see more companies doing this. It's not just because it's the 'right thing to do either," she says. "It makes sound business sense if you can cost-effectively attract a whole new source of customers who feel positive about using your services."
Click here to visit the BT Sign website