Media & Disability

• Home page
• Presentation
• Partners
• Guide on media & disability
  • Who Created this Guide?
  • Disabled People as Programme Participants
    • Portrayal
    • Casting Actors
    • Games Shows and Lifestyle Programme Participants
    • Advertising Commercials
    • Specialist Disability Programmes
    • Studios, Venues and other locations
    • Outside Locations
    • Interviews
  • Employing Disabled People
  • Access to Broadcast Services
  • Communicating with Disabled People
  • Adjustments and Aids for People Specific Disabilities
  • Glossary of Terms
• Project Development
• Legislation
• Resources
• Interesting Links
• News

Guide on media & disability

Introducing Interviewees

Adjustments for Interviews

Examples of adjustments you might make at an interview include:

• Changing the venue to a more accessible interview room for a wheelchair user. You will also want to ensure that the interviewer is seated at the same level as the wheelchair user.
• Re-arranging the seating or lighting so that a deaf person can lip-read more easily.
• Arranging for an appropriate person to help you communicate, such as a sign language interpreter. If you are interviewing a deaf person through a sign language interpreter, you need to sort out the way everyone is positioned and try a few practice questions to get a feel for how things will work.
• Allowing the individual to bring an assistant or companion to the interview. They might not want them to come in, so a waiting place nearly may be needed.
• Help someone who is visually impaired to establish where the microphones are.

Meeting and Greeting Interviewees

With any interviewee, the priority is to make sure they are on time, relaxed about the situation, and well briefed about the purpose of the interview, who will be interviewing them, and how it will work.

It is important that someone is there to meet any interviewee. For disabled interviewees, you might also consider:

• Studios can be located a long way from Reception. Someone may have walking difficulties but not be a wheelchair user. Is there a closer entrance they could use? Or can a seat be provided at intervals on route?
• Some disabled people use assistance dogs; ask if the dog will need comfort arrangements such as water.
• If your guest is visually impaired and you are showing them to a guest area or into the studio, ask if you can be their guide. If they agree, invite your guest to hold your arm and walk slightly in front. Advise them of stairs, slopes or hazards ahead. When you reach a chair, put their hand on the arm or back of the chair. That’s all you need to do; you don’t need to sit your guest down!

Introducing Interviewees

Is the person being interviewed because of their experience of disability? Or because he or she has links with a disability organisation? In either case perhaps it is relevant to refer to the disability. However, the interviewee may be there because they are a strong, effective contributor irrespective of disability, due to the views they hold or the job they do. Ask your interviewee how they would prefer to be described. Disability is an everyday phenomenon, though it may not always be apparent. People with disabilities should be able to take part in programmes without, of course, our needing to make reference to the fact on air. People should be described in terms of their disability only when it is relevant.

The Interview Style

There should be no need to modify the content of the interview with a disabled person in any way. There’s no value in being soft if the brief is to be tough and enquiring; this would be patronising and unsatisfactory for everyone. This applies to the entire range of interview situations - hard news, soft feature, gritty documentary or gentle profile. Treat the questions and responses as in any interview; the only differences are practical.

Interviews in the Street and Phone-ins

Interviews in the street should be accessible to everyone. Many disabilities are invisible so you probably already include disabled people in street interviews without even knowing it. If you want to actively seek out disabled people to take part in your street interviews you could approach local disability organisations. Why not make a point of stopping disabled passers-by - something that producers and directors rarely do?

With television, if the disability is obvious then you don’t need to stress the point. If it is an invisible disability, or if your piece is for radio, ask the interviewee if they wish to identify their disability as part of their comment. It’s all down to the content of the piece, and your judgment on how relevant it is to include such information.

Phone-ins must be accessible to disabled people. You need to make arrangements for deaf and hearing-impaired people to contact you, e.g. by text-phone, email or fax, and announce this in an accessible way. If someone with a severe speech impediment calls in and you make an editorial decision that they cannot be broadcast then your presenter needs to be able to relay that person’s comments on air verbatim. Ask the person to use an interpreter if necessary to ensure their views are communicated.

Visually impaired and Deaf Interviewees

• With a visually impaired interviewee, decide before the interview how you or your interviewer will use body language as a cue. In radio, a hand on the shoulder is an effective way to signal the need to finish an answer.
• If you are interviewing a deaf person, find out in advance which type of communication they prefer (sign language, lipreading, normal speech with the use of a hearing aid etc).
• If you are interviewing a deaf person through a sign language interpreter, speak to the person as you would to anyone else. The interpreter will then use sign language to put your question to the deaf person. The deaf person will respond directly to you and the interpreter will offer a simultaneous voice over (so ensure the interpreter has a microphone too).
• When interviewing a deaf person who lip-reads, address them directly and they will reply to you. Speak in a clear and steady manner and don’t look away. It is also important that your back isn’t against a bright light or window. Lip-reading is tiring so schedule regular breaks if possible.
• If you are interviewing a hearing aid user, a radio system is the answer in a one-to-one situation. Radio systems are also good for people with cochlear implants. A radio system sends sound on a set regulated frequency via a radio transmitter to a special radio receiver worn discretely by the user, who is able to hear his/her own voice as well as the voice of the other person.