Letter: It's good to sign

Jeff McWhinney
Sunday 05 April 1998 19:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

I NOTE with interest your article ("BT and Standard Life in hand to hand combat", 2 April) concerning the disagreement between BT and Standard Life Bank over the use of the handshape in their advertising campaigns.

The handshape in question is also the British Sign Language (BSL) shape for "telephone". It is used and adapted in various contexts within BSL whenever telecommunications is discussed. It is not my intention to question the origin of the handshape; however, I hesitate to think of the implications for deaf people should "ownership" of the handshape logo be established. Will we be liable for a fee for use of the shape? Being deaf myself, I shall be watching any developments with vested interest.

JEFF McWHINNEY

Chief Executive

British Deaf Association

London EC2

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in