Audience Panel: additional information

1. Sign up and become a member of our network.
2. Get regular updates and information on upcoming opportunities.
3. Take part in an opportunity.
4. Have your say – tell us what you thought of the experience.
5. 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.

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 audiencepanel@ndcs.org.uk. 

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 audiencepanel@ndcs.org.uk 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. Email audiencepanel@ndcs.org.uk 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.