Thanks for responses to my question, they have been very useful. And Marie, it would be good if you could ask the other forum too.
Kind regards,
Erin
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christopher Dunlop
Sent: 04 December 2008 16:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BSL Interpreter costs
Tony
I'd have to agree.
Factoring any additional costs, which disadvantage people with impairments,
or additional needs, for goods and services, is illegal. Whether these are
regular or irregular, anticipatory, or non-anticipatory.
Best wishes
Chris
Tony Lees
<tony.lees@AVANTE
K.CO.UK> To
Sent by: [log in to unmask]
"Discussion list cc
for disabled
students and Subject
their support Re: BSL Interpreter costs
staff."
<DIS-FORUM@JISCMA
IL.AC.UK>
04/12/2008 16:33
Please respond to
"Discussion list
for disabled
students and
their support
staff."
<DIS-FORUM@JISCMA
IL.AC.UK>
To put it simply; as suppliers we all have to be accessible at no extra
cost
to our customers.
Regards, Tony
Tony Lees
Avantek Computer Limited
________________________________
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support
staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marie Norris
Sent: 04 December 2008 16:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BSL Interpreter costs
Hello all,
Erin's original question was:
Should suppliers of DSA equipment be expected to fund BSL
Interpreters for delivery of and training on equipment, or should this be
included in the Assessment of Needs, and so a DSA-able cost?
Personally, I agree that under DDA a supplier should foot the
bill as
a reasonable adjustment. However the delivery charge for most suppliers is
not a large amount (eg ours is £80 in our regional area) and I do know that
the cost of a BSL interpreter is likely to be much more than that so the
points I make below might be useful for consideration.
'Delivery of' and 'training on equipment' are two different
events
and should be considered separately. As part of the Suppliers Service Level
Agreement there is an agreed procedure for what takes place at delivery.
Briefly, this is the delivery and unpacking of the goods, the setting up of
the equipment, demonstrating the hardware (eg showing how to work the
printer) and familiarising the student with the accessing of the assistive
software. We are lucky to have in our office a BSL interpreter and would be
able to have that person attend a delivery with our engineer. However the
SLA
suggests that the delivery should take 1.5 hours of engineer time and is
costed in relation to that. I would suggest that most suppliers would quote
for a standard delivery and not cost-in the cost of the interpreter (also
we
would not know when quoting for the equipment that the student needed a BSL
interpreter as we do not get that information). Also any quotation from an
on-line Quotebuilder may not take account of that either.
With regard to training on equipment - this is usually
assistive
software training, and again the supplier of the training may not have
known
in advance that the student required a BSL interpreter. The supplier of the
assistive software/specialist equipment training will have agreed training
rates per hour and/or per session. The cost of the BSL interpreter may not
have been included in the rates which will have been supplied to the
Assessment Centres. The cost of a BSL interpreter is unlikely to have been
costed-in to the standard training service as it not a regular occurrence.
I think it would be helpful to ask the question of the DSA
Equipment
Suppliers List - would it help if I put the question on that list. I think
this is really useful topic to get more comments on, particularly as it was
not considered at the recent DSA-QAG SLA meetings. I also think it would be
helpful to get an opinion on this from some of our colleagues from the
assessment centres/universities which have a high proportion of Deaf and
hearing impaired clients.
In the meantime, until this is decided, could it be that if a
BSL
interpreter is required then the assessor should ask for this at the time
of
the quotation.
Best wishes, Marie
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support
staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jackson, Erin
Sent: 04 December 2008 15:31
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BSL Interpreter costs
Hi,
Yes, that is right - they are awaiting their DSA equipment. I
felt
that
the supplier should foot the bill as a reasonable adjustment
to be
honest.
So where should the student go from here?
Thanks
Erin
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support
staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Dunlop
Sent: 04 December 2008 15:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: BSL Interpreter costs
Hi Erin
Strictly speaking, the cost, or potential cost, of BSL
interpreters
in
the supply
and training on equipment should be factored into the cost of
the
equipment
and training. The suppliers of goods and services have a legal
responsibility to
make 'reasonable adjustments' to the goods and services they
provide,
which
shouldn't discriminate, i.e. cost, one person more than
another.
However, where they haven't done so, it may be covered by DSA.
But
not
as
part of the assessment. I'm presuming this student has been
granted
DSA
and
is now being supplied with equipment?
Hope that helps
Chris
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