Sign Language on the Web
Can someone explain to me what this...
http://www.wmfs.net/wmfs/home.xtml?bhcp=1
(Mouse over the woman to the right of the main content...)
is about?
...Is this in-case deaf people can't read the text?
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/Ukpga_19950050_en_8.htm#mdiv57
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basic answer is yes.
You have to remember that not all deaf people have learnt english, though I believe that is changing.
my mind is on a permanent tangent
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This is an example of excellent best-practice, and definitely on our organisation's wish-list.
British Sign Language differs from English in many ways, and was recognised as a language in its own right by the Government in 2003. It is estimated to be the first or prefered language of around 250,000 people in the UK (according to the British Deaf Association)
I'm hoping to initiate a project in my organisation (local government) that will utilise Youtube or similar to host such video content. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences that might help guide us?
James Coltham - Local gov web manager by day, web and accessibility blogger at lunchtime, freelancer by night. Tweets at @prettysimple.
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How does the user get to that website if they can't use the web without sign language?
I think the real solution would be text-to-sign-language software installed on the user's machine. Then it would work on every website, word processor document, e-mail and throughout the operating system.
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It's not that people whose first language is BSL can't read any English - it's more about struggling with sentence structures and complex chunks of information. It's a literacy issue.
I'm not aware of any applications that have gone beyond development stage to being marketable, although there are lots of interesting projects around. See the RNID website for info on Virtual Signing. Until these become readily available, I would argue that we could be looking at alternative solutions, where practicable.
James Coltham - Local gov web manager by day, web and accessibility blogger at lunchtime, freelancer by night. Tweets at @prettysimple.
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On the plus side, the signer is quite pretty. 
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For those of you interested in offering web content as BSL video, I've just spent the day making such videos as part of a pilot project and have blogged about it: Filming web content in BSL. Hope to have the vids live soon (on YouTube and via our Council website), but in the meantime I'd welcome any comments or questions.James Coltham - Local gov web manager by day, web and accessibility blogger at lunchtime, freelancer by night. Tweets at @prettysimple.
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