Lipspeaker Library Launches

On Wednesday 8th March 2023, Lipspeaker UK launched the UK’s first ‘Lipspeaker Library’. Supported by ‘BSL Courses‘ and ‘Involve Interpreter‘, a number of lipspeakers took part in filming across England and Wales. This new ‘try before you buy’ service will allow deaf people who rely on lipreading, the opportunity to find the most appropriate lipspeaker to suit their communication preference. Lipreading (sometimes called speechreading) is the ability to understand speech by carefully watching a person’s lip shapes, how they use their teeth and tongue, as well as understanding their gestures and facial expressions. A ‘Lipspeaker’ is a hearing person who has been professionally trained to be easy to lipread. Lipspeakers reproduce clearly the shapes of the words and the natural rhythm and stress used by the speaker. They also use facial expression, gesture and, if requested, finger spelling, to aid the lipreader’s understanding. This practise is known as ‘Lipspeaking’. We hope that this new library will allow lipreaders to test their lipreading skills and also help to reduce possible stress and anxiety when using a lipspeaker for the first time. Take a look at our new Lipspeaker Library.