Some of the world's leading experts on deafness -- from afar afield as Russia, Greece, Finland, Nepal and Kyrgyzstan -- descended on Bermuda yesterday.

They will join English, German, Canadian and US speakers at the First International Conference on Deafness which opens this morning at the Marriott Castle Harbour Hotel.

Around 200 delegates are expected to attend the five-day meeting, which centres on "Education and Technology: Tools for the 21st Century''.

The experts will be on hand to explain the very latest developments. And 48 separate workshops will be held on issues including HIV/AIDS awareness, new technology and the care of senior citizens and youngsters.

Conference chair Jennifer Jeffers-Grant welcomed delegates to what she described as a "historical event'' in her statement in the programme.

She said: "There is a lot of work needed to be done in order to accomplish our goals of having equal access, education and opportunity for all deaf and hard of hearing citizens.'' One of the toughest barriers deaf people in Bermuda faced was the lack of access.

But organisers had tried very hard to make the conference accessible for everyone by ensuring interpreters and real-time captioning were available, she said.

Highlights of the meeting will include keynote speaker Dr. Robert Davila -- the first deaf person appointed to lead the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Another focus of the programme is Benjamin Soukup chief executive officer of Communications Service for the Deaf, a non-profit group based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

His presentation will include a section on how to win support through political lobbying and how to become a more active player in the law-making process.