British Gas Launches Free Sign Language Service

For immediate release: 30th March 2017

• Energy company teams up with SignVideo to improve access for deaf and hearing impaired customers
• Service will provide free and instant online sign language interpretation

British Gas, the country’s largest energy supplier, is now offering live, online British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation to its customers.

Teaming up with SignVideo, British Gas launched the free service this month which will allow sign language users to access the company’s full range of customer services.

The service is accessed via a video web link that connects to a BSL interpreter who connects the call to a British Gas agent, and interprets for the customer throughout the call.  The service is accessible on PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Steve Crabb, Director of Consumer Vulnerability at British Gas, said: “This service will make a real difference to our deaf and hearing impaired customers who use sign language. We want our full range of customer services to be as accessible as possible for everyone, and this new service really helps us to achieve this.”

There are currently 150,000 BSL users in the UK, and around 11 million people living with deafness and hearing loss.

Jeff McWhinney, Founder and Chairman at SignVideo says, “It’s fantastic to see a leading utility company like British Gas striving to provide equal access to their customer services for deaf BSL users. As a deaf BSL user myself, I know that the BSL community will be thrilled that they can now talk to British Gas in our own language, BSL, and I truly hope other energy providers will follow their great example and open up their services to their deaf BSL customers.”

Customers can access the service at https://www.britishgas.co.uk/accessibility.html

Click on the image below to view the news in British Sign Language.