Hustings and Hearing

Jersey's election day today, and I just thought I'd mention issues for those deaf or hard of hearing.

Bailiwick Express reported that:

Serving Deputy of St. Lawrence, Kirsten Morel, spoke first and seemed to decide that the people at the back of the room didn’t need to hear what he had to say, proclaiming: “I prefer not to use the mic if possible.” It appeared that he might possibly have a bad history with that particular microphone, which for some reason made a loud screaming noise every time he went near it.

St. Lawrence's other representative, Gregory Guida, spoke next and also seemed to decide that he was opposed to using the microphone. His joke about having to defend Jersey against his home nation of France last year received very few laughs, but it was not apparent whether this was because most of the audience couldn’t hear it or that they simply didn’t find it funny.

This is a total lack of respect for those who cannot hear. One thing which should be standard, and publicised, is the use of a microphone and a hearing loop system. None of this was done.  I don't know if a hearing loop was in use at any venue - vote.je didn't mention that. The deaf and hard of hearing community - because their disability doesn't show, are just marginalised.

The person introducing the hustings didn't say either - we have a hearing loop system in place - and it has been turned on. Hearing loop systems can be like tick boxes, people forget to turn them on, and they get installed but not always tested.

This situation has not really improved much since 2018, where there is a video of a hustings meeting where candidate Deputy Graham Truscott is seen to refuse to use a microphone, saying he would prefer to “project” over a protest by Mike Dun, who points out that one in 6 people has a hearing impairment (it's now one in 5). The caption for the video is Deputy Truscott, Assistant Minister at Social Security "ignoring the deaf". And by the way - the hustings back then were held in a hall with no hearing loop system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0s5l5yIjBw

At Les Quennevais school, microphones were used, but the candidates had to speak very close to them, obscuring their mouths. Watching lips - even not for expert lip-readers - is a way in which hearing can be improved.

At one Constable's hustings, the Constable stood up to answer questions. More engaging? Not to those who can't hear when the microphone is about two feet below on the desk!

Of course there is always Youtube recordings, but the sound quality is not always accurate. The Q&A showed faces clearly. The hustings - look at the St Lawrence, St John and Trinity one - had a fixed camera on one side. It's hard to even see the face of John Le Fondre, who is furthest from the camera - and it is so angled that faces are hard to see, let alone lips.

There are always subtitles.... but as the warning says "Please note that the transcription has been auto-generated, so will not be 100% accurate."

So in St Brelade, we had thanks given to the Pregnant someone, the Jessie Alliance, and Steve Patch, as well as a surreal concoction which would not have been out of place in a Monty Python sketch.

For the next election, I would like to see at the very least:

• The use of hearing loops widely publicised for hustings on Vote.Je. 
• Loop systems tested in advance of using venues.
• Candidates for election given a brief note on the day to speak clearly, and not to stray from microphones.