THE PROBLEMDeaf people throughout the world have always been challenged to find and retain satisfactory and rewarding employment. Over the past 5 years the economic recession, the changing nature of employment and cutbacks in government spending, including welfare reform, have combine to make the next few years particularly challenging for Deaf people and those organisations that seek to improve their employability. There is a direct link between early education, attainment of professional and/or educational qualifications, advancement into the labour market and social inclusion. Apart from financial autonomy, work and paid employment serves to develop a sense of belonging with positive mental health benefits and identification with the wider community (National Disability Authority, 2005). However, Deaf people in Ireland, as well as throughout the world, continue to face barriers in education, employment and access to services such in healthcare, legal and social welfare settings. In a report on poverty in the Deaf community, Conama and Grehan (2001) stated that Deaf people experience higher rates of poverty, social exclusion and employment. Factors such leaving school with no examination nor qualifications, inadequate support for Irish Sign Language has resulted in a worrying picture and 80% of Deaf adults have literacy problems compared to 25% of the population as a whole. (Irish Deaf Society, 2007). Research and data on unemployment is under reported and inaccurate. “Deafness and hearing loss” is often used to report data, and sign language users who are Deaf is under-researched. The World Federation of the Deaf also reports that figures on (un)employment are inaccurate and difficult to quantify (Hauland, H & C. Allen, (2009), Deaf People and Human Rights, WFD).THE CONSORTIUMThe DESIGNS project aims to bring together 7 partners from 4 EU countries who are renowned experts in the fields of Education and Training, Employment, Sign Language Interpreting and Deaf Community Advocacy. The overall aim of the project is to create VET and CPD training resources and exchange best practices across Europe to facilitate greater participation of Deaf sign language users in employment. The DESIGNS project (DESIGN - VET approaches to Creating Employment for Sign Language Users in Europe) is led by Interesource Group (Ireland) Limited which has successfully coorindated 12 EU projects and has been a partner in 5. The company is a specialist in EU project management and HR and employment and has worked with the Deaf community for several years. DESIGNS builds on the a former project SIGNALL which developed practical training resources for employers to increase their awareness of the Deaf community, sign language and working in interpreted settings.THE SOLUTIONThe solution to increase access to employment and sustain employment is to increase the awareness of Deaf culture and sign language to employers where barriers and obstacles are created from poor communication and access policies.The solutions can be achieved by:- Creating a training module for Deaf job seeking graduates from higher education who are reported to be underemployed and who have a lower propensity to get a job;- Creating a training module for employers to increase their awareness of deaf job applicants and job candidates to so that Deaf job applicants have a better chance in succeeding in employment;- Creating a training module for sign language interpreters as part of their continuous professional development to understand the nature of interpreting in employment (pre-employment/during employment) settings. TARGET AUDIENCE- Transitional Deaf job seekers (looking for a job upon leaving higher education)- Employers and tertiary education access and career guidance personnel- Sign Language InterpretersPROJECT OUTPUTS1. PUBLISHED INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING REPORTTraining and Educational Articles and publications.2. VET Training Resources- Guide for Employers in English, Dutch and German- Digital Signed e-Learning Guide for Deaf Job seekers (ISL, VGT, DSG, BSL & IS)- WebApp (Digital Resource in English)3. VET Course- 10 ECTS course for Employers, Interpreters & Deaf Job Seekers (multilingual components)- Video clips (case studies, good practices and success stories from employees)4. DISSEMINATION- Website- Leaflets 5. MULTIPLIER EVENTS- 4 CPD Masterclasses In Ireland - 1 European Event In Brussels - 1 Training Conference Ireland- 2 Specialist Conference – UK - 2 Specialist Conference – Germany - 1 EU Policy Conference at Eu Parliament PARTNERS- Interesource Group (IE)- European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters (BE)- European Union of the Deaf (BE)- University of Hamburg (DE)- Trinity College Dublin (IE)- AHEAD (IE)- Heriot Watt University (UK)