The meeting served to plan further work. The aim of setting up the Center is to provide ongoing communication services for people with disabilities who need such support.

What is the Communication Center?

The Communication Center is a project implemented under the European Funds for Social Development 2021-2027 Programme (FERS). The project will run from Q4 2024 to Q4 2027.

The Communication Center project is aimed at two target groups – people with disabilities who will receive communication support at the Centre, and people working for people with disabilities who will provide support during and after the project. The Center will have 17 locations and will develop an app that will also allow its services to be used online.

The project's activities will take particular account of people with hearing, speech and visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, mental health problems and those on the autism spectrum, speakers of Polish Sign Language (Polish: polski język migowy, PJM), modes of communication for deaf-blind people (Polish: sposoby komunikowania się osób głuchoniewidomych, SKOGN), those using speech-to-text transcription, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and easy-to-read and understand texts (ETR). The aim is to provide the kind of communication support that will realistically support people with disabilities in their daily activities.

The second objective is to increase the competences of the staff of Polish Sign Language interpreters, guide interpreters (SKOGN), increase the competences of AAC and ETR specialists.

Services provided by the Communication Center

The services provided by the Communication Center will be provided remotely and onsite. The Polish Sign Language interpreting service will be available both online, via the app, and onsite. The interpreter will be able to come, for example, to a workplace, institution, health care facility, etc., where a person with a disability needs such interpreting. It will be used for more complex cases when online translation is insufficient.

The service of transcription of phonic speech into Polish text is primarily intended for people who are hard-of-hearing, late deaf, do not know Polish sign language, communicate using written Polish, as well as deaf-blind people. The service will take place in real time, online, through the app using chat and an audio connection.

The document translation service will consist of translating letters, contracts, regulations, etc., from Polish into Polish sign language or Braille, and from PJM into Polish.

The Center will also ensure that AAC services are delivered as needed in this area. The Center will provide communication between those in need of such services and professionals who can provide support. The aim will also be to create an infrastructure and network of professionals at a local level. Translation of documents into ETR will be available.

For visually impaired people, the Center will provide information on the possibilities for alternative forms of communication, such as writing text in Braille, reading and recording text into an audio file, creating the audio file that can be read by a speech synthesiser, creating a text file, also in Braille, which the user can then play back using the speech synthesiser or a device called a Braille Ruler.

The Center will train AAC and ETR specialists and develop standards for the selection of communication devices and methods. It will also maintain a database of people with specialised knowledge about AAC.

Project partners

On 9 August 2024, the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Disabled People held a meeting of the committee evaluating bids as part of the call for Partners of the project ‘Communication Center for People with Disabilities’. Three entities have been selected to form the Communication Center.

MIGAM has been selected as a non-public entity. It is a company of positive impact on the Deaf community. Its clients are companies and institutions, and its target group is Deaf people. Since its inception, they have translated around 300,000 conversations (through a video call system) and more than 5,000 videos and documents. MIGAM is co-founded by Deaf people and sign language experts.

Two NGOs were also selected: the Polish Association of the Deaf and the Polish Association for People with Intellectual Disability. The Polish Association of the Deaf is the largest organisation in Poland for deaf, hard-of-hearing and deaf-blind people. The Association currently has approximately 100,000 members. Its activities include education, rehabilitation, offering legal services and representing the Deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech impaired community.

The Polish Association for People with Intellectual Disability is the largest NGO in Poland working for people with intellectual disabilities. Its aim is to work for equal opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, to create conditions for respecting their human rights, guiding them towards active participation in society, working to protect their health and supporting their families. The Association's membership is close to 11,000 people, most of whom – ¾ – are parents of people with intellectual disabilities. It runs around 350 centers and permanent forms of support, with nearly 30,000 participants helped throughout the year.