Hearing Impaired Access Audits

Objectives: - Assess the accessibility of four DWP sites for people who are deaf, have hearing loss, or tinnitus. - Make recommendations for improvements to these sites. - Provide best practice recommendations for the entire DWP estate. - Advise on modifications to existing DWP design guidance and GPA guidance to improve the accessibility of the DWP estate for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Pre-Visit Preparation: - DWP will identify four sites to be visited, including two variations of Job Centre Plus, one hub, and one service centre. - RNID and DWP will mutually agree on the selected sites. - DWP will provide RNID with relevant materials for each site, including floor plans, details of space usage, specific areas of focus, and arrival information. - Approximately one week before the first site visit, RNID and DWP will have a pre-visit call to ensure all necessary information has been shared and an agenda for the day is agreed upon. Site Visits: - A team of two specialist RNID representatives (one technology specialist and one specialist in accessible workplaces) will conduct approximately a 3-hour site visit at each of the agreed sites. - They will evaluate the environment for both colleagues and visitors, focusing on assistive technology, the suitability of the working environment, the acoustic quality of the working environment in comparison to contemporary thinking, and other accessibility-related factors. - Each visit will focus on a few representative rooms at each site.