New Ads On Channel 4 An Important Step Forward In Deaf Awareness

A couple of weeks ago Channel 4 started to show what was known as an `accessible ad break` where each ad was fully signed by deaf actor and artist David Ellington, and an audio described version of the ad is available on the `Watch Live` section of All 4. David Ellington changed costumes during the ads and also interacted with the main ads to keep things interesting and entertaining to all.

The ads were created with the assistance of both Action On Hearing Loss and the Royal National Institute Of Blind People, and David Steadman, an executive director at AHL said: "The more that people who are deaf or have hearing loss see representations of themselves on TV, the more they'll know that society is beginning to think about the needs of people like them."

The ads are certainly helping people to become more aware of the problem of hearing loss and it shows that deaf people are beginning to be taken more seriously by organisations such as the TV channels.

One excellent feature of the ads was that the brands that took part in the ad break, such as Allianz Insurance, British Gas, Maltesers, O2 and Samsung, were good enough to give a donation to the partnered charities, and I am sure that the brands will have benefited from these ads as David Steadman pointed out that:

"Brands have been missing a trick in not creating adverts where there's a group of people who are simply not able to understand them. Too often accessibility is just an afterthought and people think about it last and so it's a add on to what companies are doing. But if you look at accessibility creatively and you think about it early, what you get is something much more powerful and people remember it."

You can read more on this story if you go to the Huffington Post website at the following link: Adverts That Are Accessible To Deaf People Meanwhile if you are concerned about your hearing or you need a new hearing aid or batteries why not call into Lisburn Hearing where we can help you out and give you expert advice.