Hi Leslie, Thanks for that, it's interesting to hear from the states about this and I was hoping that there were some Deaf members on the list :) It would be great to hear from anyone here in Australia on this point too.
Just to clarify my point, I was using 'big D' Deaf for culturally Deaf and 'little d' deaf for (as you said) in reference to the broader deaf population. In my experience (I have worked professionally as an Auslan interpreter for about ten years) 'hearing imparied' is used here (australia) for culturally deaf people too (I wasn't clear there). I've noticed that 'hard of hearing' is not really used by younger deaf in the deaf community but also by older non-culturally deaf ie deaf through age, but I could be wrong and am happy to be corrected by any aus deaf. I can really only speak locally and am not sure about the states. >>"Hearing impaired" is a term used by people >>who don't realize or understand what they are talking about, to describe >>Deaf or hard of hearing people. This is definitely not my experience here in australia, in fact, I used to work for a department that was known as the 'Deaf and Hearing Impaired' support unit at TAFE (college here) that managed interpreters and note takers and other educational support. The word document [Issues in Educational Settings for Deaf Students and Interpreters] http://tinyurl.com/8ffee uses 'Hearing Impaired' frequently and is written by an Australian Deaf author, so I suspect it is a regional difference. All the best, lisa -----Original Message----- From: Leslie Riggs [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, 4 August 2005 4:00 PM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: 'users with disabilities' WAS: [WSG] New front page for http://ab c.net.au/ >'Users with Disabilities' is better than 'disabled users' generally, >however, when referring to deaf users, it depends on whether the user is >culturally deaf or not. > >Culturally Deaf users are those that use sign language for communication and >belong to the deaf community. They're referred to as the big 'D' deaf. In my >experience, most Deaf users would not like to be referred to as disabled as >they do not consider themselves to be disabled. This is Important to note > >Other deaf users are usually referred to as hearing impaired or deaf (no >capital). > > > Ahem, being that I am Deaf and very actively involved in local and state-level communities in my little part of the U.S., I can tell you that there are precious few people who do not consider themselves Deaf who also would bristle at the term "hearing impaired". "Hard of hearing" is a better accepted term. The term "deaf" isn't real widely used except when referring to a broad population, such as when talking about the deaf community. "Hearing impaired" is a term used by people who don't realize or understand what they are talking about, to describe Deaf or hard of hearing people. Regarding the preference for dropdowns, that doesn't surprise me. Deaf and hard of hearing people (especially those fluent in a sign language - ASL, BSL, USL) are exceptionally visually oriented. When a menu drops down rather than flying out, it's easier to read and navigate down. The information related to that menu item is "closer" to the item than when additional menu choices fly out to the side (with multiple choices listed vertically), which is a bit jarring. It's also less effort than to try to keep the mouse within the "hot spot" to navigate sideways, then down to the desired link. Leslie Riggs >Hope that helps and is not too off topic?? > >Lisa > > >Terrence Wood wrote: >I wonder why people with hearing disabilities requested dropdowns, is >this result (statistically) valid, or just observed within your group? > >btw, I'm pretty sure the correct term to use "users with disabilities". > >kind regards > > > >****************************************************** >The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ > > See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm > for some hints on posting to the list & getting help >****************************************************** > > > > ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ****************************************************** ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
