Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the partners of the Croatian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the implementation of the project “Nature for All in Sign Language”. Together with other national parks in Croatia and the Association of Employers in Croatian Hospitality, we were pleased to participate in this one-year project, which focuses on ensuring accessible communication for deaf and hard of hearing people and developing awareness of accessible tourism.
The main activity of this project is the creation of accessible content about the individual national parks in Croatian sign language and international sign language through designed video presentations in sign language and with subtitles in Croatian and English. The information that the national park wishes to interpret for deaf and hard of hearing visitors is highlighted via QR codes or even included in applications if the protected area already has them. Such codes are placed on information boards and information desks depending on the protected area.
To ensure that tourism staff, who are the first point of contact for visitors from different parts of Croatia and from all over the world, know how to approach deaf and hard of hearing visitors, the Croatian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will organise workshops to train staff on how to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people. Concrete examples from practise will illustrate the situation of deaf and hard of hearing people in a hearing environment and thus develop awareness of the accessibility of the environment.
The accessibility of communication for deaf and hard of hearing people is very important and is achieved through Croatian sign language and subtitles. According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are about 200 sign languages in the world, and it would be impossible to provide content in all sign languages. Therefore, the project will incorporate international sign communication as a system of signs collected from different national sign languages.
This extremely valuable project will make it possible to make national parks in the Republic of Croatia more accessible to deaf and hard of hearing visitors so that they can equally experience the natural and cultural values that the protected areas offer. Accessibility is one of the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which ensures that persons with disabilities can live independently of the assistance of others and participate fully in all aspects of life.
