Today, 4 November, the official website of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha reported about the unveiling of a new service offered for the benefit of hearing-impaired residents at 9 Information and Registry Offices (OIR) located in the 5 provinces of the Spanish autonomous region.
This concerns the offer of a sign language video interpretation as a facilitating tool that would improve municipal services and communication in person with people who have hearing disabilities.
All 9 OIR centres that offer the new service are located in Castilla-La Mancha
To promote the unveiling of the new service, José Miguel Camacho, the Deputy Minister of Local Administration, visited the Community Board in Albacete, which is one of two places in the city where sign language interpretation will be offered. He commented that this makes Castilla-La Mancha the first region in all of Spain to introduce this kind of service.
It is estimated that some 18 000 people in that part of the country can benefit from the new administrative innovation.
The way it works is that when a person with hearing disabilities approaches public employees at one of the OIR offices need help with some administrative issue or simply for a consultation, the civil servant attending him or her will be able to request the aid of a certified sign language interpreter.
This will be done through a video call, with the interpreter mediating between the two parties until the citizen’s questions or issues have been successfully answered and resolved.
“The fundamental objective of the regional government is to continue working to improve the accessibility of citizens and their relationship with the Administration, in each of its procedures,” said Mr Camacho.
If the pilot project is deemed successful after one year, it will be extended to other departments from the regional administration. Each OIR civil servant has also received specialized training on how to provide quality services to residents with hearing disabilities.
Source: TheMayor.EU
