Start Up Loans partners with SignLive to boost accessibility
The British Business Bank, is proud to announce its partnership with SignLive. SignLive, a deaf-owned organisation, will work with the Bank to improve its accessibility to deaf employees and clients by providing British Sign Language Interpretation services.
The partnership’s first project, which went live this week, is to make Start Up Loans Customer Services accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing. The British Business Bank also intends to expand this service gradually across the business throughout 2022.
This new partnership follows the recent announcement of the Bank’s partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). The RNIB is producing Braille, Audio and Large Print versions of existing Start Up Loans documents to support better accessibility across all of its customer facing channels. The British Business Bank is also the first organisation to have passed part one of the RNIB’s Visibly Better Employer Framework, which helps employers to become more inclusive.
Richard Bearman, managing director of Start-Up Loans, said: “Across the financial services industry, we’ve made a lot of progress in our desire to become increasingly accessible over the past few years. However, there’s always more that we can do to cater our services to people from specific backgrounds, which is why our partnership with SignLive is so important to us.
“This partnership represents our continued commitment to keep moving forwards, keep learning and making the Start Up Loans scheme as accessible as possible to people in the UK who are interested in starting their own business.”
Joel Kellhofer, CEO of SignLive: “As a deaf entrepreneur, I know how much of a difference this partnership can make for someone starting out on their business journey. I’m glad we can support Start-Up Loans in becoming more accessible and hope that it provides new opportunities for British Sign Language users in the future.”
Multi-platform functionality
Customers of the Bank can now download the SignLive app on a mobile phone or tablet, or alternatively can use a web browser. If it is the customer’s first time using the service, they will need to complete a one-time registration. Once logged in the customer can contact Start Up Loans free through the Community Directory, by tapping on British Business Bank, Start Up Loans and then ‘Call’.