This document discusses deafness and the Deaf community. It notes that around 9 million people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing, representing about 1 in 7 people, and there are approximately 50,000 British Sign Language users. The Deaf community is considered a linguistic and cultural minority similar to an ethnic group. The document then profiles two individuals, Petra and Paul, who have different relationships with deafness and the Deaf community. It also briefly discusses sign languages around the world and the history of technology used by deaf individuals to communicate. Finally, it outlines some popular social media sites for the Deaf community.

1. Understanding Deafnesshistory, language & the webLisa Herrod: Accessibility 2.0 A Million Flowers Bloom 2009

2. @scenariogirlscenariogirl.comlisa@scenarioseven.com.au

5. Just under 9 million people in the UK are D/deaf or hard of hearing.This represents about 1 in 7 of the population.There are approximately 50,000 British Sign Language users (BSL) in the country.

6. Big D DeafLittled deaf

7. The Deaf community is considered to be a linguistic and cultural minority group, similar to an ethnic community. Just as we capitalise the names of ethnic communities and cultures (e.g., Italian, Jewish) we capitalise the name of the Deaf community and culture. Since not all people who are physically deaf use Auslan and identify with the Deaf community, the d in deaf is not capitalized when we are referring to all deaf people or the physical condition of not hearing.

8. Petra….Female 30 – 39

9. University Degree

10. Two young children

11. 65k family income

12. Semi-experienced web user spends about 2 hours a day online.

13. Flickr, IM, email, FacehookPetra is Big D Deaf.General surfing & online shopping

14. Purchasing travel and movie tickets

15. Basic literacy in English

16. Auslan is her primary languagePaul…Male 60 – 69RetiredUses the web to do basic browsing and a little personal research for hobbies.

17. Paul is little d deafHas some residual hearingWon’t wear hearing aidsDoesn’t identify with the Deaf communityCan’t signLost hearing through age and industrial injuries (noise)

18. Sign Languageeducation, language & history

19. languageRegional signSign language in different countries

26. “Why isn’t there just one sign language..?”

27. Recently in Japan...New signs for 16 spoken words were devised for a recent social issue. The signs were considered indispensable for the understanding prior to an election.

28. Employment stopBallistic missilePirate Floating crab cannery

29. Language and technologytelephone TTY fax mobile email IMFacebook

30. The Deaf Community 2.0& online social media

31. Chat Coffee - famous deaf community get together all over USA255 followers

32. Deaf Queer Resource Center. News for, by and about the Deaf Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and Transgender communities and our allies.501 followers

36. Facehook17,473 members

37. 1514 Subscribers!

38. Welcome to TagDeaf, the leading social network for the deaf and hard of hearing on the web. Want to meet thousands of deaf people and make new friends?

40. MyDeafLife.com is a social networking and video entertainment site powered by Deaf people for Deaf People. Anyone can join and enjoy MyDeafLife.com, whether you are one person or a club, it is free to join.

41. Recommended Readingabout Deaf history, education & culture

45. Questions???