The Delphi Method

Many individuals and organisations are working to ensure deaf people can access all that modern communications has to offer. Whether it is to stay in touch with friends and family, contact your doctor, engage with Government, or talk to customer services of modern businesses, it is important to have choice and access in when and how you communicate, whether it be by text, audio or video.

That is why UKCoD’s Deaf Access to Communication group is undertaking a major piece of work to enable choice in electronic communications. The project is seeking to identify the demand for and likely costs of relay services for the next 5 years over and above text relay. The piece of work is an impact assessment or options appraisal and it is using a Delphi method. The Delphi method is a well-established research method that uses repeat surveys on existing data to an expert panel in order to reach a shared view of the evidence.

The work will be complete by the end of October. From this a model of how more relay and communication services can be provided will emerge along with a set of recommendations on what is needed to see those services in place. If you have an interest in the area and want to make a contribution, please contact info@ukcod.org