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.

After my recent blog, I have been contacted by people beyond the UK asking what lessons should now be learned from AI and sign language. That matters. It tells me this is no longer just a British conversation. People in other countries are watching closely, asking what has happened so far, what has improved, what has not, and whether Deaf communities are truly helping shape these technologies or are still being asked to accept decisions made elsewhere. For me, that leads to t

Happy New Year.2025 was the year I kept asking one question: If AI claims to understand sign language, who is accountable when it fails? I am  not  an AI developer or engineer. My role is to evaluate whether accessibility  actually works  for Deaf and BSL users, especially when AI is introduced into high-risk settings. This year, I saw real progress. I also saw serious gaps. Key moments in 2025: Started as  Accessibility Consultant at PN Inclusion  (July 2025) Achieved  AI

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

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