Communications policy (Committee)

1. CISLI aim to achieve clarity and accuracy, as well as openness, approachability and legibility in all its communications, internal and external, with a particular emphasis on accessibility for the Deaf community.

2. External Communications

a. CISLI will use all possible forms of communication to keep members and the public informed of its activities, including but not limited to:

email messages (to members / other interested parties), websites, Facebook, Twitter, SMS text messages, phone calls, letters, and other technologies. CISLI will strive to be cost-effective in its use of technology while attempting to not prioritise one form of communication over any other.

b. With particular reference to social networking technologies, CISLI will use all forms of communication technology in an appropriate, professional, sensitive and confidential manner.

c. By virtue of members’ signing of the CISLI membership form, all members of all membership categories give permission for their membership to be displayed by CISLI in any relevant forum, and for the Committee to confirm their membership with relevant organisations as may be required.

d. The CISLI committee will not reveal any personal information of a member to the general public or to other CISLI members without that member’s express written consent.

e. The CISLI committee will not reveal personal information pertaining to non-member individuals, to the general public or other CISLI members, regardless of category, without that individual’s express written consent.

f. With a view towards value for money and ease of administration, communications with members will be in electronic formats, unless members specifically request a hard-copy version of such information on joining CISLI.

3. Internal Communications

a. The CISLI Committee reserve the right to clarify and correct false or misleading information that has been placed on public fora in relation to the organisation and its work. Such clarification will be on behalf of the Committee and therefore of CISLI as a whole rather than being from one person. Such communications will be factual in nature, will be placed on the same forum that the original communication was placed, and will seek solely to clarify and correct the misinformation or misleading information in question, in an open, approachable and professional manner.

b. Communications on behalf of the CISLI Committee will originate from email discussion between Committee members.

c. Draft forms of communications may be originated by the Chairperson, or any individual Committee member.

d. If Committee members have feedback, suggested alterations or issues with a proposed Committee communication, these must be brought to the attention of the Committee as a whole, via email, within 48 hours of the original proposed communication, or, within 48 hours of the last feedback email from any of the Committee. If feedback is not forthcoming from Committee members within 48 hours of the communication being proposed, it will be taken as approval or that there is no opinion.

e. Drafts should not be circulated for wider membership until final approval comes from the Committee.

f. Committee members, having discussed and agreed on the form and content of a communication, should take collective responsibility for that communication as a Committee. It is expected that individual Committee members should stand by the communications of the CISLI committee in their interactions with colleagues and others, as well as preserving confidentiality about the nature of related Committee discussions prior to the issuing of the communication.

g. Email communications from the Committee to CISLI members should be sent with recipients specified only in the BCC field.

h. Communications are to be signed off as from the CISLI committee and not from any named member of the Committee.

i. Individual members of the Committee are permitted to reply in an individual capacity to communications to the Committee only if they concern very routine or standardised types of communication, e.g. requests for contact details of interpreter agencies. They may also reply if the particular Committee member has been given responsibility

for a specific aspect of Committee work that the communication concerns, e.g. membership queries. All such replies must be CC’d to CISLI’s email address and BCC’d to all Committee members at the time of sending. Outside of these kinds of communications, no Committee member should email on behalf of the Committee without express approval by the Committee.