Join our Audience Panel
The Audience Panel is an involvement network made up of parents, carers, professionals, donors, and campaigners who use our services. The panel help us to design, develop and test services, products, resources, and campaigns that meet the needs of those we support.
Why we need an Audience Panel
We're passionate about making every moment count for deaf children and young people. To achieve this, we want to make sure that every deaf child, family member and professional has access to the best services possible. And we’d like your help.
As a member of our Audience Panel, you'll help to design, develop and test our services, resources, and campaigns to make sure they’re the best they can be.
Who can take part?
We’re looking for the following people to join our Audience Panel:
- parents, grandparents and carers of deaf children and young people
- professionals working with deaf children and young people (for example, audiologists, Teachers of the Deaf, teaching assistants, early years practitioners, communication support workers, social workers and support workers)
- people who volunteer with the National Deaf Children’s Society
- donors to the National Deaf Children’s Society
- people who campaign with or on behalf of the National Deaf Children’s Society.
What’s involved?
You’ll get the chance to take part in involvement opportunities, which will help us make sure our services provide value to deaf children, their families, and professionals. You may get invited to do this in the following ways:
- complete an online survey
- test a digital product, like our website or app
- take part in a focus group (online or in person)
- complete a one-to-one interview (online or in person).
If you need communication support, we can provide this for you. For example, a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, a spoken language interpreter or a palantypist.
Benefits of joining
People have different motivations for getting involved, it could be to share lived experiences or to give feedback on services they have or will use. It can give you a real sense of empowerment to use your experience to make a positive difference, and meet people with similar experiences.
Your feedback and voice are valuable to us. Your involvement and sharing your lived experience or professional expertise can help us shape our services and resources for people like you, deaf children and young people, or professionals.
Each time you take part in an Audience Panel opportunity (for up to two hours), we’ll offer you a £25 voucher to say thank you. If you’d like a record of your involvement in a particular project, please get in touch.
How much time do I need to commit?
Most online focus groups last one and a half hours maximum, while a one-to-one interview lasts around one hour. We’ll always let you know in advance how much time you need to commit.
Completing a survey can be done in your own time but should take no longer than one hour.
None of our opportunities should be longer than two hours.
Where will focus groups and interviews take place?
Focus groups and one-to-one interviews usually take place online, for example, on Zoom or Microsoft Teams. These sessions usually take place in the evening, though one-to-one conversations can be arranged for a time that suits you.
Occasionally, you could be invited to attend an in-person meeting. We’ll cover the cost of any expenses, such as travel.
Sign up to take part
Please fill out our sign-up form if you’d like to get involved. We’ll use the information you give us to match you with relevant opportunities.
Contact us
If you have any questions, you can get in touch with our team at [email protected].
Additional information
- Sign up and become a member of our network.
- Get regular updates and information on upcoming opportunities.
- Take part in an opportunity.
- Have your say – tell us what you thought of the experience.
- Find out the impact of your involvement and how your input will make a difference.
There are a range of potential opportunities you may be invited to be a part of. Below are some examples from previous projects.
- Testing online training for professionals working with deaf children and their families.
- Reviewing resources (for example, deaf awareness videos for early years settings).
- Testing how easy to use and helpful our app, My NDCS, is.
- Taking part in focus groups of up to eight people and one-to-one conversations for our Brand Review.
Occasionally, there may be external organisations that contact us to invite our members to get involved with steering groups or one-off focus groups. These are not led or managed by the National Deaf Children’s Society.
We can’t confirm how often opportunities will be offered, as this can vary depending on what services and resources require involvement.
We’ll always aim to match you to a relevant opportunity. For example, some projects may need specific audiences, such as parents and carers of a deaf child aged 5 who has glue ear or professionals working in an early years setting with 3 to 5 year olds.
We try to ensure that we give everyone a chance to take part and include as many different perspectives as possible in our research. This means you may not be contacted for every opportunity. If you have a particular interest in a particular project, please let us know.
Yes, we can provide interpreters, live captions, or both. Before an online opportunity, we’ll always check the accessibility requirements of those taking part to ensure the sessions are accessible and inclusive. All our online surveys and forms will have British Sign Language (BSL) translation.
Opportunities will be shared in our regular e-newsletter to Audience Panel members, which will arrive in your inbox from [email protected]. If you see an opportunity you’d like to take part in, please contact us. We’ll then let you know if you meet the criteria by sending you a formal invitation to take part.
There may be times when the team makes direct contact, by email or WhatsApp, if a project requires a very specific audience.
Your feedback helps us to design and improve our services. We’ll always get in touch to let you know how your input has helped a particular project or team and what the next steps are because of your involvement.
All personal data, including written or recorded feedback, will be stored securely in line with our general data protection process set out in our privacy policy. We’ll let you know how long we’ll store your feedback for, and all your personal information will be anonymised.
There may be occasions where we want to publish a quote or something you’ve shared. If we want to do this, we’ll always ask for your permission.
If you claim disability benefits, your benefit will not be affected, and you will not need to inform either the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department for Communities (DfC) or Social Security Scotland (SSS) that you have received a gift card. If you are claiming other welfare benefits too, you should check with DWP, DfC or SSS if accepting this gift card will affect your other benefits.
Email [email protected] to tell us what you’re not happy about, and we will follow up.
Alternatively, read our complaints policy to find out how to make an official complaint.
You can leave anytime. Send us an email to let us know you no longer want to take part in Audience Panel opportunities, and we will remove you from our mailing list and database.