Supporting students who are hard of hearing is equivalent to supporting a remote worker. Technology advances and support from MSD enable employers to provide support for those who are hard of hearing via online meetings and interpreters. There is only a slight shift required in employers' behaviour to support hard-of-hearing team members. 

Takeaways

• Understand each person’s individual needs and their gaps or barriers to work.

• Use technology to better manage team collaboration events by using online collaboration tools and using closed captions for all online and in-person meetings.

• MSD provides financial support for interpreters for particular types of meetings. 

• Teams are already using online collaboration tools as part of their everyday work. There is a small adjustment to support the hard of hearing. 

We’ve been learning how to better support to deaf and partial-hearing students at Summer of Tech. It was a significant learning curve for us to ensure hard-of-hearing students have the same opportunities to get hired. We learnt a number of things about supporting hard-of-hearing students that we would like to share. 

We’ve researched tools and resources that would be useful for employers hiring hard-of-hearing students. To our surprise, most companies are already using most of the tools already to support remote / hybrid working. Using these same tools you can support hard-of-hearing employees. Here’s what we learned.

1) Each person has unique needs, so ask them what they need 

Every person’s hearing impairment is unique. You need to understand how to create the right environment for your employee to thrive. Ask them what they need, and they will tell you what works for them.

Some people can lip-read, so during “in-person” meetings, face a hard-of-hearing person when you speak so they can understand what you are saying. 

Social situations at work, e.g. office meetings, staff meetings, 1-1 conversations, manager/employee and coach/mentor conversations, impact a hard-of-hearing person. Think about how you could support your employee in those situations.

Workbridge has a list of communications tips on their website.  

2) Turn on Closed Captions for all online meeting

All online meeting platforms (Meet, Teams and Zoom) have live captions/ transcription. The quality of these tools has dramatically improved in the past couple of years. Also, consider Otter.ai (otter.ai), an add-on transcription tool you can use and the go-to tool for our hard-of-hearing students. The app seems to learn new words quickly and understands “tech jargon”.

3) Use online tools for team/group collaboration

Online whiteboard tools such as Miro (miro.com) and Figjam (www.figma.com/figjam) are staples of team collaboration via remote working. These tools, combined with online meetings enable everyone to participate. If you use whiteboards in a meeting room - you can use an online meeting with live captions to capture what people are saying.

After the meeting, it's good to follow up with a written summary of the key points to ensure that the important information is captured. 

4) Learn New Zealand Sign Language

There are many resources online to learn New Zealand Sign language.

www.learnnzsl.nz - A collection of videos (60-120 mins each) covering the basics of sign language across several categories: Greetings, asking for things, everyday activities, work and small talk.

www.teachsign.org.nz/learners/nzsl-class-listings - Provides a list of courses and training online and across Aotearoa New Zealand.  

5) MSD will subsidise Interpreters for key meetings 

Workbridge (workbridge.co.nz), on behalf of MSD, can fund the cost of an interpreter at the workplace (workbridge.co.nz/communication), which covers particular types of meetings:

• Staff/team meetings.

• 1-1s.

• Personal development meetings.

• Some training processes. (An Interpreter can be available for training. You will need to apply for it and get approved).

Book ahead for “planned” meetings; weekly, fortnightly etc. It’s almost impossible to book an interpreter within 24 hours. Workbridge usually need 48-72 hours notice to find a person. Workbridge can fund up to $15,000 per hearing-impaired person annually.  

The student/employee initiates the process for funding. The student will apply for workplace support once they have a job. Then Workbridge will contact your organisation to provide support and explain how the funding can be used. 

6) Be aware of when you need to provide additional support

It can be difficult to remember to meet the ongoing needs of a hard-of-hearing employee. Ad hoc meetings/water cooler situations are examples of where someone may need extra support. Follow processes to ensure all your comms are via email or message platforms like Slack. Anything you do for remote employees, such as using tools like Slack or Teams, will also help your hard-of-hearing employee to feel connected to their team and on top of their workload.

7) Health and Safety

You may need to adjust your Health and Safety policies to support hard-of-hearing employees. For example, a visual emergency escape plan may be required to communicate evacuation paths that are usually shared verbally.

The UK Government has posted a set of health and safety tips for hearing impaired staff, which is very comprehensive.