My UWE Bristol AHRC-funded Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) project wrapped up in February 2025, marking a significant milestone for Deaf Legal Theory (DLT). Over the past year, I have collaborated with a global community of deaf people, advocates, and academics to co-produce the DLT model, aimed at addressing the challenges deaf individuals face within legal systems worldwide.

What did the project achieve?

Publications

• In February 2025, I published an academic article in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education (JDSDE), reintroducing and expanding Deaf Legal Theory (DLT) and the model I initially developed. This article provides a further academic foundation for DLT. This article has received 645 views and 139 downloads to date.

Global engagement

• Conducted the BIG Survey, gathering 243 responses from deaf individuals, professionals, and academics worldwide.
• Hosted two key workshops (Brainstorming and Development), attracting 18 participants from five continents.
• The Final Webinar had 31 attendees, and the recording has been viewed 60 times on YouTube.

Strong online presence

• The DLT website attracted nearly 3,000 unique visitors during the project.
• Robust social media engagement, with 216 posts across LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram, collectively generating thousands of impressions and significantly raising the profile of Deaf Legal Theory globally.
• Released an engaging infographic video summarising the DLT model on YouTube which has had 143 views.

Collaborations and next steps

The project has directly led to ongoing initiatives:

• The ongoing establishment of the Deaf Legal Theory Foundation to continue advocacy and apply the model.
• Applications to secure additional funding to pilot the DLT model internationally and explore further implications through ongoing research collaborations.

Upcoming outputs

• An academic article detailing the unique co-production method used in this project.
• Another academic article introducing the fully co-produced Deaf Legal Theory model for academic audiences.

Additionally, look out for an upcoming blog summarising the feedback survey results, offering deeper insights into community perspectives on the DLT model.

Thank you to everyone who participated, contributed, and supported this work. The journey has been exciting, impactful, and most importantly, genuinely co-produced with the global deaf community.