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Services

For hearing impaired and deaf people

Calderdale Libraries have a wide range of up to date information and material available for people who have a hearing impairment.

Access for all

Access for All is situated on the ground floor of the Central Library, Halifax and has a range of equipment especially for the Deaf Community.

Fax Machine

A Fax machine is also available for deaf people to use in Access for All. The fax number is 01422 392612.

Access for All also has a range of software and other equipment that deaf people may find useful. Please come in and have a look at what is on offer. Library staff are available to help you.

Access for All is fitted with a complete loop system.

Fire Alarm Pager

A fire alarm pager is available at the Central Library. For your personal safety, please see the staff in Access for All and wear a pager when you are in the building.

Please remember to return the pager to Access for All before you leave.

Counter Loops

The library service is fitting counter loops at many of the branch libraries in Calderdale to enhance communication with deaf customers.

A counter loop is available at Todmorden library, Skircoat, Rastrick, Hipperholme, and King Cross.

Central Library

The central library has a range of books about deaf issues and culture.

Library staff have attended deaf awareness training and training on how to communicate with deaf people.

Closed-caption videos

These are videos that contain 'hidden' sub-titles. These become visible when a special 'decoder' is attached to both the television and the Video Recorder. If a video has captions, this is indicated by a symbol on the video cover, a television with a point at the bottom. Our standard format for the delivery of films is the DVD, but we have retained a small collection of videos. at the Central Library, and  close captioned videos are also available from our "Access for All" service. DVDs contain sub titles as a standard option . A 'Closed Captioned' reader is available for loan free of charge. Telephone 01422 392614 (voice).

DVDs

DVDs contain sub-titles as a standard feature, often in several languages. They can be played on most PCs as well as on DVD players. You'll find them in our Sound and Vision collections  at these libraries - Akroyd ,Beechwood Road, Brighouse, Elland, Hebden Bridge, King Cross, Mytholmroyd, Northowram, Rastrick, Skircoat, Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden.

For DVD enquiries please contact Jon Medcalf on 01422 392628 (voice).

Signed special interest videos

A small collection of non-fiction signed videos on subjects like:

• learning British sign language
• buying a car
• what to do when someone dies etc.

is available from the "Access for All" service at the Central Library. Please contact Access for All on 01422 392607 (voice).

Other services

Calderdale Council offers a sign language interpreting service. For more details, contact:

• Name
• Veronica Jacklin
• Textphone
• 01422 393082.

For more information and products for deaf people, contact:

• British Deaf Association|
• Forest Books|
  Specialists in books about deafness and deaf issues. Tel: 01594 833858 (voice / textphone)
• Royal National Institute for the Deaf|
  Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People.
• Sound Advantage
  • Telephone
  • 01722 361199
  • Textphone
  • 01733 238020.

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