Bridging Language and Disability Lenses in the Design of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Communication Access Technologies

Abstract

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals communicate in many different ways – using sign, speech, writing, touch and more. In designing technologies for DHH individuals, most research takes a disability lens, exploring how technologies can support this wide range of communication access needs. However, engagement with language and language-related factors is limited. My dissertation argues that a language lens can be generative in designing for DHH communication accessibility, allowing us to better understand multilingual and multimodal realities and build technologies for both language access and communication access. To demonstrate this, I present three studies exploring DHH communication online: exploring speechreading in video-calls, captioning in multilingual media and conversations, and tech-mediated sign language interpreting experiences. Across this variety of communication contexts, I highlight how language and language-related factors influence use and efficacy of accessibility technologies. I additionally explore how we might design technologies to meet this diversity of language practices and access needs. To demonstrate how this approach can be technically generative, I turn to the development of sign language dictionaries, investigating methods for video-based search and vocabulary expansion – thereby guiding design and development in both access and language needs. Through empirical, design, and technical contributions, my dissertation demonstrates the generative power of a language lens in DHH communication accessibility, and contrasts dual goals of language access and communication access guiding technology.