Tim Scannell, Accessibility Consultant:

Enhancing Access for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing by Focusing on Sign Language, Digital Accessibility, and Information Access for Everyone.

A Deaf and Sign Language-Led authority is needed in sign language AI — now. As AI systems involving sign language become more visible, progress alone is no longer enough. What is increasingly missing from the conversation is linguistic authority . Sign languages are not motion systems. They are full languages , dependent on: manual dexterity spatial grammar context culture lived Deaf expertise Without Deaf-led authority, AI risks producing outputs that are technically impr

Many people think SignGPT is the same as ChatGPT , just with sign language added. This is where confusion begins. ChatGPT starts with: text or speech This makes sense because ChatGPT is built for people who write or speak first . Because of this, many people assume SignGPT should work the same way : start from text or audio Then generate sign language But this assumption creates a serious misunderstanding. For Deaf people: Sign language is the first language Meaning starts

AI and Accessibility: Bridging Communication Gaps for the Deaf Community Introduction AI has transformed accessibility, particularly through audio and video captioning . Live captions are now common across meetings, broadcasts, and digital platforms. This raises an important question: If AI can caption speech, can it also detect sign language and generate captions from BSL into English? As of 20 December 2025 , progress exists — but the answer depends on how the technology is

When we talk about AI and Sign Language, we must be clear: this is not about avatars only , and it is not about a single screen or device . AI for sign language encompasses a spectrum of technologies , which brings with it serious responsibility . I am not an AI builder or AI expert. I am here because I do not want history to repeat itself. Milan 1880, Milan banned sign language. Modern technology must never erase Deaf people again — this time through invisibility or misrepre