Technology for supporting web information search and learning in Sign Language

Abstract

a b s t r a c tSign Languages (SL) are underrepresented in the digital world, which contributes to the digital divide for the Deaf Community. In this paper, our goal is twofold: (1) to review the implications of current SL generation technologies for two key user web tasks, information search and learning and (2) to propose a taxonomy of the technical and functional dimensions for categorizing those technologies. The review reveals that although contents can currently be portrayed in SL by means of videos of human signers or avatars, the debate about how bilingual (text and SL) versus SL-only websites affect signers' comprehension of hypertext content emerges as an unresolved issue in need of further empirical research. The taxonomy highlights that videos of human signers are ecological but require a high-cost group of experts to perform text to SL translations, video editing and web uploading. Avatar technology, generally associated with automatic text-SL translators, reduces bandwidth requirements and human resources but it lacks reliability. The insights gained through this review may enable designers, educators or users to select the technology that best suits their goals.

Design para acessibilidade e inclusão

“…Todavia, mesmo sendo um dos ambientes virtuais mais utilizados na educação, possui barreiras e rupturas na questão de acessibilidade. Estudos como, por exemplo, de Gabardo et al, (2010);Fajardo et al (2009); Saito e Ulbricht, (2012); Schneider (2012); e Trindade (2013), revelaram que o ambiente Moodle precisa ser aprimorado para atender às necessidades dos surdos. Nesse cenário, esse artigo apresenta requisitos para uma plataforma digital de ensino e aprendizagem bilíngue (Português e Libras), balizado pelo arcabouço teórico das Comunidades de Prática [Lave & Wenger, 1991].…”

Towards Improving the e-learning Experience for Deaf Students: e-LUX

“…A necessary condition to achieve the goal of full access for deaf learners to the digital world is integrating SL resources and tools within e-learning applications, since the benefits of this methodology cannot be matched by any other accessibility solution [4]. As a matter of fact, SL can be considered as a native language for a wider and wider part of the deaf community, especially younger ones, who did not experience the ostracism exercised by oralism supporters towards SLs.…”

“…In deaf-oriented accessibility design, SL is primarily supported by including videos within digital artifacts. SL videos are usually employed to make a digital resource available to deaf people, but, in most cases, they are included into VL-featuring artifacts [4].…”

Artefatos De Comunicação Para Ambiente De Comunidades De Prática Bilíngue

“…Para além das dificuldades, os ambientes disponíveis para aprendizagem nas instituições de ensino são, na grande maioria, ambientes sem custo, construídos na filosofia do software livre, como é o caso do Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). Ambientes desenvolvidos neste modelo são todos bem-vindos, porém por ora carecem de acessibilidade, como revelam as pesquisas de (FAJARDO;VIGO;SALMERÓN, 2009;PIVETTA et al, 2013).…”