Notes

Sign language & the web

Last weekend I was asked to provide some information on usage of sign language on the internet, and how it is breaking new ground. I responded via e mail, in case anyone is interested in this topic, just expand and read the extended entry. Note, the response is lengthy, plus it may be based on some assumed knowledge of previous communication, thus not entirely understandable by the outsider.

To try and answer some of your questions:

a) Sign languages can be very different yes, like all spoken languages are not the same, sign languages (although visual) hold different grammar rules.

We are currently creating a website on the recognition of sign languages, which won't be launched until October. A draft of the website can be found here:

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Please do not give this url out as its not finished / launched. We have a significant amount of materials to add to the site yet, the graphics need to be done, plus the whole site needs translating into BSL ie video clips. I've also got a fair amount of work to do on the content.

The wiki section of this website may give you some insight into the number of signed languages that exist internationally, but the wiki is still in basic form .... we are hoping people will contribute materials once this site is launched.

Although various sign languages are not the same, eg: British Sign Language (BSL), American Sign Language (ASL), AUSLAN (Australia) etc .... Deaf people sometimes use Gestuno when meeting internationally. I have to emphasise that Gestuno is not a complete language, and its difficult to convey abstract or philosophical ideas, but easy to convey iconic signs / ideas. Iconic signs are visual in nature and often mimicked on gesture eg peeling a banana, hand on side of face to indicate that you are going to bed. If you are interested in finding more about this, there's a page on Wikipedia.

b) In terms of communicating in written languages vs sign languages, I would go back a bit further than this. Anyone prefers to communicate in their mother tongue, and tends to revert back to this when they get the chance. This is the same with spoken languages as with signed languages. If your first language is English, but you learnt French ... you will often revert back to English when talking about more complext emotions etc. Using French as a language will require you to think re translation, and therefore some effort.

c) People who use visual language (primarily Deaf people) they use a different part of the brain than for spoken languages. There are some MRI scans on this website, illustrating this. (Click onto fMRI English & ASL, in the left column).

d) There is also the auditory memory concept that I spoke about in an earlier e mail.

e) In terms of if videos have been used to convey BSL, ASL etc. Yes this has happened in the past, but there has been several constraints with this, around cost, the fact that budgets need to be raised and production pre-planned. This has not allowed instantaneous production. Also distribution of videos has tended to end up at Deaf centres, and often hidden in the cupboard or inaccessible to people for various reasons.

Subsequently there was some work done by the University of Bristol and others to put information on a videophone server, where Deaf people would dial up a server via videophone to gain information. However, this failed for a number of reasons including the cost of videophones were prohibitive, it allowed only a select few who were technically and financially able to produce information in BSL ie a university.

The net changes this on many different levels. It brings the cost down, notwithstanding bandwidth costs.

Initiatives up to now have been under 2 strands.

i) an extension of information produced by traditional information providers, in another form ie the internet. Eg, earlier this year the University of Bristol's Wisdom project produced something akin to signed tv / a news bulletin which can be found here, Deaf Station.

Sites such as the British Deaf Association have produced some signed videos. (see signed videos in left column). Please note this site will soon be revamped.

Helga Stevens recently stood for election in the Flemish parliament, and her site is in Flemish plus Vlaamse Gebarentaal (VGT) ie name of one of the sign languages used in Belguim. This is worth a look, and is here.

Helga was elected to the Flemish parliament, and if you want more information on this, please go to: Deaf Blawg and use the seach facility 'Helga Stevens'.

The Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) has a video online, re the election process here.

The content is very similar to traditional signed information videos that have been produced in the past. ie funding from official sources to produce official information.

ii) real time interaction. People have been using Camfrog to communicate in BSL / ASL etc, although this site is used for people communicating in spoken languages too.

There has been initiatives elsewhere such as Club Deaf.

iii) Relay services. To use the phone, traditionally Deaf people have used a relay service, which relies on written text, and they've used this via a machine called a minicom. In the States, written text relay services have moved to the internet: IP Relay is an example of this and there are others.

There has been a movement towards interpreting relay, whereby you see an interpreter as opposed to written text. Egs of websites are: Sprint, ATT, CSD.

CSD are currently working with the BDA in the UK to enable video relay services a reality here. Otherwise its currently limited to the States.

All the above has relied on small groups of people setting things up and largely controlling information. Thus usage of signed languages on the internet has been largely as passive receivers. We are hoping that videoblogging plus BSL / other sign language discussion groups will change this.

For the wider community / grass root participation to take place, traditionally discussion has taken place physically in sign languages, or has been reliant on a good command of English.

For example, Deaf UK (a yahoo discussion group) was set up 6 years ago, but the main complaint that it was not accessible to everyone.

Another thing, as sign languages do not really have a written form, such things as books do not exist to preserve the evolution of the language, plus allow documentation of people's experiences. eg through paper / electronic journals up until now. We hope with a more powerful internet, we can change this.

In terms of our experience with deaf-uk-bsl ..... I have found end user experience to be different. It is more personal. Allows you to see a face behind a name. Using another language brings out another culture, and this comes across via expression.

Discussion in the group so far has been introductions, Rob discussing his impending LL.M. course, and issues around the name of the group. People are keen to drop the word 'deaf' and to focus solely on it being a langauge experience.

Otherwise I just hope that Google doesn't go down the same road as yahoo in terms of eventually stripping attachments from the archives, plus limiting file size. I believe some gmail accounts are now up to 1tb, therefore I would hope that google has the sense to apply the same attitude to its groups.

I hope this gives you some kind of overview. If there is anything you would like me to expand on, please ask away. I've copied Rob and Ben into this e mail. We can certainly ask group members for feedback on what they think of the group so far.

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