Policy paper

British Sign Language 5-year plan: Department for Transport (English and BSL versions)

Published 21 July 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

BSL version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ3r1rITU-A

Introduction

The Department for Transport is committed to creating accessible communications for British Sign Language (BSL) users. 

Over the last year, DfT has put into place working practices to ensure that BSL is given due consideration both within the department and through external communications.

But we recognise the need to do more, and this action plan shows the steps we will take, how and when.

BSL Act

The BSL Act 2022 recognises BSL as a language of Great Britain and requires nearly all departments to report on the promotion and use of BSL. 

Part of the Act states that BSL should be actively considered for any public announcement on policy or changes to the law, including: 

• publication of plans, strategies, policy and other consultations and consultation responses 
• press conferences 
• social media 
• websites 

Actions so far

We have taken several steps already to improve our BSL provision, including:

• setting up a working group within the department to lead the work on implementing our obligations under the BSL Act, and keeping track of all communications carried out using BSL to enable accurate reporting
• embedding Public Sector Equality Duty considerations into communications planning, including whether BSL provision is needed – this happens for every proactive piece of external communications content
• aspiring to use BSL as standard for bills as they go through Parliament, and ensuring it is fully considered for consultations and policy announcements that affect a large number of people
• using BSL for all accessibility communications, including the ‘Its Everyone’s Journey’ campaign which ran until June 2024 and aimed to achieve equal access for all on public transport
• meeting with accessibility stakeholders, namely the British Deaf Association (in March 2024) and cross-Whitehall colleagues such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), to understand how the D/deaf community and BSL users consume information and news, enabling us to communicate with them through appropriate channels
• the department’s guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty reminds colleagues of the need to consider using BSL whenever it is appropriate to do so

Action plan

We will aim to continue:

• increasing our BSL output as appropriate
• adding numbers and resilience to the working group – this will help ensure it is future-proof, with the people and teams who can continue to ensure delivery of BSL communications

The group will evaluate progress to ensure due consideration is given to BSL communications for important policy announcements.

Using internal communications channels, we are updating the whole department on our obligations under the BSL Act, with main contacts for the working group to ensure consistency and accuracy across DfT. The main leads for the working group will also hold teach-ins for teams across the department and its agencies. These will help to ensure that every team understands its responsibilities, not just the working group. 

Arm’s-length bodies continue to provide their own updates on BSL, feeding them into the working group. This ensures all communications are captured and that there is consistency across DfT and its agencies. 

The consideration of BSL is being built into communications planning early in the process. This will ensure that time is not an obstacle to producing BSL content.

We continue to plan for upcoming communications opportunities, including:

• accessibility announcements
• consultations
• acts of Parliament