The Council started life as the Welsh Regional Association for the Deaf in the early 1950's. The name was changed to Welsh Association for the Deaf in 1967 and then as Wales Council for the Deaf in 1976 the current title came into use in 2004.

The Council is the major voluntary body in Wales concerned with deafness. It is an umbrella association of organisations both voluntary and statutory working in the field of hearing loss and representing people who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deaf/blind.

Representatives of Member organisations elect a governing body (Board of Directors) which manages the Council's activities and decides policy.

Full time staff have been employed by the Council since 1983. Originally based in Caerphilly the Council's offices were relocated to Pontypridd in 1989 and finally purchased its own premises in Pontypridd with a National Lottery grant in 1997.

The main aim of the Council is to support all activities of benefit to people with hearing loss in Wales with the object of enabling these people to lead fuller and more independent lives.

The Council's objectives are achieved in a variety of ways, it is involved in representation either alone or in co-operation with other organisations to obtain access and equity. Community volunteer groups are set up and funded with the object of fulfilling a local need. These groups are encouraged to be involved in local planning of services thus ensuring local requirements are met.

In the field of communication with people with hearing loss the Council is a major provider of training, running courses both in sign language and lipspeaking. In addition a freelance communicator agency is available, encouraging user organisations to provide communication access for people with hearing loss.

The Council's activities cover all fields of interest and regular surveys are carried out on an All Wales basis to check the level of provision. The information thus obtained is used by the Council to highlight areas where services may be lagging behind that which is generally available.