International Week of Deaf People 2026 Observed from September 21 to 27

Key facts

• International Week of Deaf People 2026 is observed from 21 to 27 September 2026, with the International Day of Sign Languages on 23 September 2026.
• The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) theme for 2026 is 'Declaring Deaf People's Human Rights'.
• 2026 marks 20 years since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
• The World Federation of the Deaf was founded in 1951 and now works with 138 national member organisations.
• There are more than 300 sign languages used around the world, and sign language is not universal; British Sign Language (BSL) and American Sign Language (ASL) are different languages.
• Signed languages use facial expressions, body movement, handshape, movement and space to convey meaning, and non-manual features can carry linguistic and grammatical information.
• Makaton is a communication programme using signs, symbols and speech, while BSL is a natural language with its own grammar used by the British Deaf community.