British Deaf Association (BDA)

Description

The British Deaf Association (BDA) is the UK's national Deaf-led membership organisation, representing Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) in the UK and Irish Sign Language (ISL) in Northern Ireland. The Association works to ensure that the language, culture, community, diversity and heritage of Deaf people in the UK are respected and fully protected, and promotes human rights and equality for Deaf people by collaborating with members and stakeholders to influence government and secure access to services in BSL and ISL, the first or preferred language of around 87,000 Deaf people in the UK. Alongside advocacy, campaigning and community development, the BDA undertakes research into the experiences of Deaf people across the UK's nations and regions and publishes policy responses and reports, and runs a national heritage programme. This heritage work centres on SHARE: The Deaf Visual Archive (an online archive of films, photographs and memories documenting Deaf community history) together with the documentary Power in Our Hands, Deaf Studies and curriculum-linked education resources, and the Deaf Museum in Manchester.

Currently active

Yes

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

1890

Contact details

On the map

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Categorisation

Type

Tags

Partner Universities

University of Manchester

Additional Partnerships

World Federation of the Deaf (WFD); European Union of the Deaf (EUD); World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section (WFDYS); European Union of the Deaf Youth (EUDY); BDA Youth; London's Screen Archives (Film London); British Film Institute (BFI)