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Accessibility Tips

Building an inclusive Jewish community requires recognizing and embracing diversity. These guidelines offer practical initial steps for fostering an environment where Jewish Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals can feel valued, included, and fully engaged in Jewish life. This document serves as a concise resource for leadership and staff.

Clearly articulate in your synagogue’s or organization's mission and vision statement a commitment to welcoming individuals who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or living with other disabilities.
Allocate funds or explore funding solutions to cover the costs of accessibility services. Foster an inclusive environment by being open and accommodating accessibility service requests.
Develop policies to manage accessibility requests for both on-line and in-person needs, covering captioning, interpreters, transcription, hearing devices, typed sermons, and seating.
Include accessibility statements in all publicity materials and online platforms. Direct requests to a monitored email. If available, clearly indicate ASL interpretation, captioning or subtitles in all event promotions.
Evaluate your building's physical spaces to ensure they provide effective communication access by considering visual alerting systems, captioning for digital content, appropriate lighting, and call button accessibility for the front door when applicable.

JDRC is dedicated to supporting synagogues and Jewish organizations in their efforts to create inclusive and accessible communities for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing members. We offer consultation services and tailored training sessions for synagogue and organizational leadership and staff to help foster meaningful inclusion and belonging.

For more information and/or to schedule a consultation, please contact us to request guidance by filling out the form at this link.

Jewish Deaf Resource Center