Designing an Animated Character System for American Sign Language
Danielle Bragg, Raja Kushalnagar, Richard Ladner · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018) · doi:10.1145/3234695.3236338
Summary
This University of Washington and Gallaudet University paper introduces the first animated character system prototype for sign language, addressing the fundamental problem that sign languages — used by approximately 70 million people worldwide as their primary language — lack a standard written form. Existing ASL writing systems like si5s, SignWriting, and ASL-phabet use stationary 2D symbols to represent complex 3D movements, making them difficult to learn and limiting their adoption. The paper leverages animation capabilities of modern screens to replace static movement symbols with actual animated movements, creating text that combines iconic handshape symbols with motion. This is significant because ASL is not signed English — it is its own language with distinct grammar and vocabulary, and the average deaf high-school graduate reads English at a fourth-grade level. A standard written form of ASL would enable access to email, text messaging, social media, note-taking, and other text-based platforms in deaf people's primary language. The work builds on si5s, chosen because it was designed by the Deaf community, endorsed by Gallaudet University, is featural (representing sign components with separate symbols), and has fairly iconic handshape and location symbols that are publicly available for download.
Key findings
An online opportunity evaluation study with 195 participants (50% Deaf, 9% Hard-of-Hearing, 38% Hearing; ages 9-77) yielded several key findings. The vast majority (86% DHH, 71% hearing) wanted access to ASL text, and over 95% of DHH participants used some form of digital ASL communication. The top barriers to adopting existing character systems were difficulty learning (43% of DHH) and poor resemblance to live ASL (>50% of hearing users). In a pilot identification study, animated characters were significantly more identifiable than stationary ones for 3 of 4 tested signs (WHERE, UNDERSTAND, MAYBE — all p<.05), with participants also identifying animated versions faster. Animated characters received higher ratings for similarity to live ASL, ease of identification, and enjoyment compared to stationary versions. 71% of participants said animating ASL characters could be valuable, with only 7% saying no. A design probe workshop with 15 Deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Gallaudet identified 10 design dimensions for animated characters (3D movement along each axis, hand orientation in 4 dimensions, speed, start/end, repeated movement, and display mode). Participants showed strong agreement (>50%) on preferred designs for most dimensions, particularly for representing 3D movements and hand orientation changes. Critically, participants systematically distinguished animation speeds for sign pairs that differ only by speed (TIRED vs VERY TIRED, WALK vs WALK FAST), demonstrating that animation captures sign speed — a semantically meaningful aspect of ASL that stationary notation cannot represent.
Relevance
This paper addresses one of the most fundamental accessibility gaps for the Deaf community: the absence of a written form for their primary language. While much accessibility research focuses on translating between signed and spoken/written languages, this work takes the more radical and empowering approach of creating native written ASL. The implications extend beyond digital communication — a standard written ASL could support language documentation and preservation, education, literary expression, and cultural heritage. For accessibility practitioners, the key insight is that modern screens are not limited to static text, and animation can be a defining feature of a writing system. The participatory design approach — working with Deaf community members at Gallaudet — exemplifies how to design with rather than for a disability community. The animated character system could also be applied to other sign languages worldwide and to other domains involving gesture documentation, such as surgical procedures or performing arts choreography.
Tags: sign language · deaf accessibility · ASL · writing systems · animation · literacy · participatory design · deaf culture · character systems
Standards referenced: Unicode