by Greg Bawden, HLAA-WA Board Director

The Washington State Ferries (WSF) is looking for people in the Deaf and hard of hearing community to serve on an advisory panel to improve hearing access via a text-based alert system.

Currently, the WSF system does not have a way to reliably provide safety messages to people who cannot hear the overhead announcements.  For many years, several members of the hard-of-hearing community have been working with WSF, and WSF has recently dedicated staff and funding to finding and implementing a solution. This is a milestone for safety and hearing access on our local ferries.

WSF has asked me to help find people willing to serve on an advisory panel to meet and hear updates on the design and implementation of the project and offer feedback.  The meetings are virtual and infrequent, maybe a few times a year.  The next meeting is likely to be in mid- to late-August.  

They’re looking for people who are

• hard of hearing or Deaf,
• occasional or regular passengers on Washington State Ferries, and
• would like to provide input while WSF designs and implements a text-based alerting tool. 

Let me know if you have questions, or if you or someone you know would like to participate, by July 31, 2026. The best way to reach me is via email, hope@hearingloss-wa.org.