Bridging the digital divide for deaf signer users

Abstract

Motivation -In order to design strategies to overcome deaf signer users' digital divide, the authors portray an overview of some of the cognitive processing characteristics of this type of users during Web information search based on insights gained from the Cogniweb project's empirical research. Research approach -Critical review of 5 experiments on Web Information Search which manipulated system and users' variables. Findings/Design -The results highlight the relevance of 3 cognitive factors as predictors of Web information search efficiency for deaf people: reading skills, verbal categorization abilities and visual-spatial span. Additionally, the results suggest that the usage of textual hyperlinks linked to videos with their Sing Language translations seems to be an efficient Web navigation mechanism for deaf signer users. Research limitations/Implications -A small number of deaf signer users participated in the set of studies, which limited a possible generalisation of the findings. Originality/Value -The research makes a contribution to the knowledge about how cognitive and systems factors interact and how this knowledge can be used to increase Web information scents for deaf signer people.

Characterizing Interactions among Members of Deaf Communities in Orkut

“…Also there are some works regarding how deaf people use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) (e.g. [10], [12] and [15]) However, to the the best of our knowledge, an investigation aimed at characterizing interaction among members of deaf communities on social networks has not yet been published.…”

“…Works like [10] and [12] found that, as listeners, the deaf also want to communicate with a variety of people and quickly, but what differs is the language used in this interaction. Authors in [15] describe the important role of ICTs in the autonomy and socialization of the deaf, and note that not all the specific characteristics of these users have been considered in the interaction models of these systems.…”

“…If they are also making new friends who are listeners, Orkut may be supporting the communication among deaf and listeners. This is an important finding, since face-to-face communication between deafs and listerners face the barrier of the different languages used [14], [10].…”

“…However, limiting communication to text can be a challenge for deaf users since their first language is usually sign language [4], [10], [14], which is visual and not textual. Thus, for deaf users there is an overhead of communicating in a language which is not their first language.…”

“…However, it is important to notice that the first language for deaf people is sign language and communication takes place, most of the time, in face-to-face situations [14]. Thus, having to interact through the written form of oral languages may be a challenge for deaf users [4], [10], [14]. Furthermore, deaf culture has many specific features that may impact how deaf users interact through social network systems.…”