It’s a common misconception that everyone who uses sign language across the globe uses the same exact signs. In fact, there are over 60 types of sign languages used worldwide. Between 250,000-500,000 people in the United States consider American Sign Language (ASL) to be their first language. In the UK, there are around 150,000 people who use British Sign Language (BSL). French Sign Language (LSF) is the native language of roughly 100,000 people. While there are certainly similarities between these variations, they are all unique languages.
It’s important to recognize that sign language is just that -- a language. Just like any other language, each type of sign language has its own grammar and sentence structure.
Video accessibility: captions aren’t necessarily an alternative
When you think about making video content accessible for viewers with hearing loss, most often people will first think of subtitles or captions. That covers all your bases right?
Actually, it doesn’t! For people who primarily communicate with sign language, captions are not necessarily an alternative.
For someone who uses ASL in their daily life, spoken English might feel like a second language. Reading captions, then, essentially involves the process of translating the text into their first language as if the captions were in French or Spanish rather than English. Depending on how “fluent” you are, it can take some time, and when captions are moving at the speed of speech, it’s easy to get lost.
Additionally, in spoken language we often use tone to elaborate on our meaning. Have you ever gotten in an argument with someone because your sarcasm didn’t translate well through a text message or email? The same concept applies here. With sign language, meaning is added through facial expressions and body language rather than tone. If someone who primarily signs is reading captions without the visual context, certain elements of meaning might not come through as clearly.
Including sign language interpretation in videos
If you want to add in sign language interpretation as a video overlay during the editing process, there are a few things to consider.
First, the signer needs to be visible! As discussed earlier, sign language relies on facial expression and body language to effectively communicate. A good rule of thumb is to make sure the overlay of the signer/interpreter takes up at least 1/4th of the width of the video to ensure their movements are clear. Similarly, make sure not to cut off any of their movements by cropping too tightly. Most signing will occur from below the waist to above the head, and at least an elbow width to each side.
Just as it’s important to adjust the placement of captions so that they don’t block other visual elements, the same is true with adding a video overlay for sign language. Find a placement on the screen where the signer won’t block significant visual elements, whether that’s on the right side of the screen, the left, towards the top, or towards the bottom. Ideally, this location will be constant throughout the video. If there are also captions, be sure not to block those, either!
A great way to add signers to a video is using a Green Screen tool. You can find one here - Green Screen Video. Using a green screen (or any single coloured background), you can include only the signer when adding the overlay to your video, therefore blocking as little of the original video content as possible.
So, does that mean videos should include sign language instead of captions?
No! Just like captions aren’t necessarily a substitute for sign language, sign language isn’t a direct alternative for captions.
While each person has their own preferences, very generally speaking, people who were born deaf and grew up using sign language prefer sign interpretation in videos and people who lost their hearing later in life prefer captions in videos.
For more information on when to use captions, and best practices, check out the following articles: Why Caption? Best Practices for Captioning