Design for All—Not Just for Some

That clean disability icon in a black circle - binary code floating in the background shows up on more and more websites. It’s a common overlay image, a visual promise that “accessibility is here.”

But history tells a different story.

For decades, Deaf communities fought simply to have their language recognised. In the 1980s, most schools for the Deaf still pushed oral-only education, sidelining sign language. Captions became common on TV only after long legal and advocacy battles. Websites came along in the 1990s - yet sign language translation on the web is still rare in 2025.

In fact, British Sign Language (BSL) was only legally recognized in the UK in 2022; that’s how recent this progress is.

Today, 70 million+ people use sign language as their first language. Overlays rarely help them. They may add high contrast or enlarge text—but they don’t translate text into sign language, they don’t embed live interpreters, and they don’t fix inaccessible code. Worse, they can leak private information about a user’s disability without informed consent.

True digital accessibility is not:

❌ Adding a widget to “look compliant”

❌ Leaving the real barriers in place

True accessibility is:

✅ Building inclusive code from the start

✅ Ensuring keyboard navigation works

✅ Providing captions and quality audio

✅ Offering sign language translation streams or embedded interpreters

✅ Respecting user privacy every step of the way

We’ve had the technology from TTY in the 1960s to AI-driven sign language translation today. The gap isn’t tech = it’s willpower.

If your website ignores sign language support, you’re repeating decades of exclusion. The front door must be wide open for everyone, not a window only some can squeeze through.

#DigitalAccessibility #DesignForAll #SignLanguage #BSL #Inclusion #WebAccessibility #Overlays