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.

For AI to be used responsibly in accessibility, three parties must all agree : ✔ Deaf community✔ AI provider✔ Organisation / decision-maker If any one says no , the system should not be used . This is not resistance to innovation.It is basic accessibility, safety, and accountability. Too often, AI systems affecting Deaf people are: Designed without Deaf leadership Approved without independent verification Funded without clear responsibility for harm Lived experience is not “

Recently, I’ve seen growing interest in tools like Sign-Speak and SignGemma — both exploring how AI can better understand sign language, not just display it. 🧠 Sign-Speak focuses on real-time sign-to-text and sign-to-voice translation, giving Deaf users and interpreters more direct ways to communicate.🤖 SignGemma , from Google DeepMind, explores sign language recognition using large-scale AI models. Out there, we already see many providers creating audio-to-text , tex

We are Deaf sports fans who pay full subscription prices for @DiscoveryPlusUK , @TNTSports , and @AmazonUK — yet for over a year, live football and rugby have been broadcast without subtitles or audio description. 📅 Saturday 1st November 2025 – live rugby and football on TNT Sports (via Discovery+ / Amazon Prime Video) 📅 Saturday 8th November 2025 – Spurs v Manchester United on TNT Sports 1 👉 Both broadcasts had no subtitles and no audio description .🎥 I’ve