Deaf advocates slam JDC over lack of sign language at election debate

Deaf advocates in Jamaica are expressing outrage after Saturday’s national election debate on social issues — the first of three in the Jamaica Debates Commission’s (JDC) series — went ahead without Jamaica Sign Language (JSL) interpretation.

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Advocates argue that the decision excluded thousands of deaf and hearing-impaired Jamaicans from accessing vital information that shapes national policies and directly impacts their ability to make informed decisions at the polls.

In a release on Sunday, the JDC said it had been engaging organisations representing the deaf community since May in an effort to secure interpreter services, but despite negotiations up until less than four hours before the debate, no arrangement was finalised. The commission pledged to ensure JSL interpretation for the remaining debates.

Sign Clubs of Jamaica, a national association representing the deaf community, dismissed the explanation given at the start of Saturday’s debate — that interpretation was not possible due to circumstances “beyond the commission’s control.”

“While we note this explanation, the exclusion of the deaf community from such a critical democratic exercise must not be repeated, as accessibility cannot be treated as optional,” the organisation said in a statement. The group stressed that deaf Jamaicans are voters with equal rights to information and were unfairly denied access to discussions on pressing social issues.

Founder and Executive Director of Sign Clubs of Jamaica, Zantaye Thomas, told The Gleaner she was alarmed by the omission. “Based on social media comments I’ve seen, and persons I’ve spoken with, many other Jamaicans were also concerned and disappointed as well,” she said.

The organisation has since urged the JDC to guarantee accessibility for the upcoming debates by ensuring qualified JSL interpreters are visible on screen and included in all official broadcasts.

Meanwhile, veteran interpreter Antoinette Aiken, widely regarded as the premier JSL interpreter in Jamaica, alleged in a series of social media posts on Monday that she is being blacklisted. Aiken, who has interpreted for Parliament and other major national events for over 20 years, said she was told she would only be allowed to “feed signs” in the background to another interpreter — an arrangement she says legal advisors warned her not to accept.

“The JDC told both the Jamaica Association for the Deaf and Ready to Sign that they are not under any circumstances going to work with Toni Aikens,” she said in a video posted to Instagram, calling the exclusion an insult to her decades of service.

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She noted her concern that the omission compromises accessibility: “The reality is when it comes to political debates, I am the only one qualified. There is nobody in Jamaica that can manage. When it comes to policies and programmes, you have to be able to explain that in a split second.”

The second debate in the series is scheduled for Tuesday night.