GLASGOW Museums has been hailed for its work supporting hearing impaired visitors to enjoy the city’s cultural facilities.

The Scottish Deaf Council (SCoD) has recognised Glasgow Museums’ efforts with a SCoD Star Award 2016, celebrating access and services for deaf people across the city’s nine civic museums.

Chairman of Glasgow Life, Councillor Archie Graham, said: “Our entire ethos is to inspire citizens and visitors to Glasgow to lead richer lives through culture, sport and learning.

“It is vital we empower all people in the community and ensure deaf people in Scotland can access all the wonderful stories told in our museums.

“We are delighted to receive this award from the Scottish Deaf Council, especially because we were nominated by a member of the community.

“I would like to thank all the people who have helped shape the services we offer.

“We look forward to continuing to build on these going forward.”

Glasgow Museums’ teams across the city have introduced a variety of facilities to enhance visits for deaf people.

Four volunteers, led by Caroline Currie, Learning & Access Curator, have been trained to offer British Sign Language (BSL) guided tours.

In Riverside Museum, electronic touchscreens incorporate BSL as a community language and audio descriptions have been added with sign language interpretations of films at Riverside.

At Kelvin Hall, BSL is incorporated in newly created films telling the story of the Showpeople involvement in the annual Carnival.

Glasgow Museums has also created 20 online ‘welcome videos’ in BSL & Irish Sign Language, which since being introduced in 2015 have seen 16,000 downloads.

SCoD is the lead organisation for deaf issues in Scotland.

Janis McDonald from ScoD said: “We are delighted with how well the first Star Awards ceremony went.

“It was particularly pleasing to see Glasgow Museum’s success in the arts and leisure category.

“They are a great example of inclusion and access with a specific approach for deaf people.

“The arts and museums in Glasgow offer rich rewards for local citizens.

“It is great to see initiatives that mean deaf people are not excluded from the benefits though the provision of accessible information.

“Making reasonable adjustments to shift communication, improve access and increase the participation of deaf people in activities many take for granted is all that is asked. This example of fair action is commendable.”