The creation of the NADD had been in response to the perceived threats to the language and education rights of deaf people which had arisen after the Milan Conference of 1880.
This international congress, where the majority of those attending were people who taught hearing to deaf children, had passed a resolution banning the use of sign languages throughout the world.
The participants of the conference had then returned to their home countries, determined to eradicate both the employment of deaf teachers and the use of sign language in schools.
In the 1990s the BDA became a deaf-led organisation and the campaigning for the recognition of sign language is to date the main focus of their work.
[citation needed] In 2003, the BDA released a document describing various steps for public services to improve accessibility for Deaf people and BSL users, called the 'BSL Charter'.