This week we celebrate International Week of Deaf People. Designing websites and apps, it’s easy to think about accessibility in terms of requirements: “add captions”, “provide transcripts”, “don’t rely on audio”. It matters, but there is a difference between knowing an accessibility requirement and understanding what it feels like to depend on it.
Trying some of the tools Deaf people actually use in real life can help us notice things we might otherwise miss:
For example, what happens when you can’t rely on hearing during a conversation?
How easy is it to communicate with someone who doesn’t know sign language?
What information disappears when a service relies heavily on audio?
What makes a video genuinely useful when sound isn’t available?
What happens when captions are inaccurate, delayed or difficult to follow?
Here are some tools that can help you to explore it:
This app turns typed messages into large text for face-to-face communication. It’s particularly interesting because it was Deaf-owned and designed.
The app displays typed messages in very large text, making it possible to have a simple conversation without speaking.
It provides live speech-to-text captions. Try using it during a conversation or meeting and see what it’s like to rely on captions to follow what’s being said.
It is a sign language learning app with lessons taught by Deaf teachers. It currently offers ASL, BSL and Austrian Sign Language among its courses.
This app translates text and audio into sign language using an animated avatar. It’s also a good opportunity to think about the limitations of automated sign language translation. Even Sorenson notes that its ASL translation is still in beta and isn’t always accurate.
It’s a resource for people learning ASL, with videos showing different signs and the possibility to slow down or loop them.
Live Transcribe
Turns speech and sounds around you into real-time text. It can also identify sounds such as laughter, applause, music and alarms. This is interesting for designers because it shows how much information normally arrives through sound rather than the interface itself.Rogervoice
Provides real-time captions for phone calls and also offers type-to-speak functionality. It's a particularly useful one to try if you want to understand the accessibility problems created when a service assumes that everyone can communicate by telephone.Otter.ai
Provides speech-to-text transcription for conversations and meetings, including professional settings and online meetings. Try it during a meeting and pay attention to things such as speaker identification, timing, punctuation and what happens when several people speak.SignPiP
It transcribes the video's speech, translates it into sign language and displays an animated signing avatar alongside the original content. It's particularly interesting for thinking about sign-language access to video content, while also raising questions about the limitations of automated signing.
It’s important to remember that if you’re designing a website or digital service, don’t stop at trying an app: talk to Deaf users, include Deaf people in research, test with them your product, learn from Deaf organisations and communities.