International Day of Sign Languages 2026 to highlight communication and inclusion in healthcare

Health and care organisations are being encouraged to recognise the importance of accessible communication as International Day of Sign Languages is marked around the world on 23 September 2026.

The United Nations observance takes place annually alongside International Week of Deaf People and celebrates the importance of sign languages to Deaf communities around the world.

For the health and social care sector, the day carries a particularly important message. Being able to communicate effectively with healthcare professionals can directly affect a person’s experience of care, from explaining symptoms and understanding a diagnosis to giving informed consent and making decisions about treatment.

For Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL), communication barriers can make accessing services more difficult. Reliance on written information or lip-reading is not necessarily an appropriate substitute for communicating in a person’s preferred language, particularly during complex, sensitive or urgent healthcare conversations.

The awareness day provides an opportunity for hospitals, GP practices, pharmacies, care providers and other services to consider how accessible their own communication really is.

That includes ensuring staff understand how to arrange appropriate interpreting support, making information available in accessible formats and avoiding assumptions about how an individual Deaf person prefers to communicate.

The issue extends into social care, where communication is fundamental to delivering genuinely person-centred support. Being able to express choices, concerns, pain or changes in wellbeing is central to maintaining independence, dignity and involvement in decisions about care.

International Day of Sign Languages also celebrates sign languages as languages in their own right and recognises their importance to Deaf culture and identity.

For health and care professionals, the day is an opportunity not only to celebrate linguistic diversity but to consider whether the people using their services can communicate, understand and be understood when it matters most.

International Day of Sign Languages takes place on 23 September 2026, as part of a wider global effort to promote the rights, inclusion and recognition of Deaf people.

Find out more from the United Nations

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