The Vlogging Phenomena: A Deaf Perspective
Ellen S. Hibbard, Deb I. Fels · 2011 · The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS) · doi:10.1145/2049536.2049549
Summary
This paper examines how Deaf people use video blogging (vlogging) technology to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) on mainstream and specialized platforms. The researchers compared vlogging practices on YouTube, a mainstream video-sharing site, and Deafvideo.TV (DVTV), a website specifically created for the Deaf community. The study was motivated by the recognition that highly textual websites present significant barriers to Deaf people, who primarily communicate through ASL rather than written English. With the proliferation of high-speed internet and video technology, Deaf people gained the ability to create, record, store, and share signed content online — fulfilling a vision articulated by George Veditz in 1910, who called Deaf people "people of the eye" and predicted that moving pictures would be the medium through which Deaf people could communicate across time and distance. The researchers selected eight vloggers per website (balanced for gender and age range) and analyzed five vlogs per vlogger posted between September 2010 and February 2011. They measured quantitative factors including signing rate, video length, and number of replies, as well as qualitative factors such as topic type, technical elements (background, lighting, sign frame size), narrative elements, and use of signing space.
Key findings
The study revealed significant differences between YouTube and DVTV vlogging practices. Vloggers on DVTV signed more slowly (0.87 signs/sec) compared to YouTube (1.1 signs/sec), with DVTV rates matching those of native face-to-face signers. YouTube vloggers may sign faster due to self-consciousness about the mainstream audience or because they are newer signers. DVTV vlogs were more informal and personal, with vloggers addressing others by name and sharing personal anecdotes, while YouTube vlogs tended toward more formal, general-interest topics. Notably, vloggers developed innovative techniques unique to the video medium: they altered their signing space to work within the 2D constraints of webcams, moved signs along the z-axis toward the camera to create emphasis or 3D effects (something considered inappropriate in face-to-face ASL), and some deliberately obscured their eyes to convey emotional distance. All replies on DVTV were in ASL video format, while YouTube replies were all in English text. Despite guidelines existing for producing quality ASL video content, most vloggers did not follow them, preferring a casual, personal approach. The absence of traditional Deaf folklore in vlogs surprised the researchers, suggesting the technology is being used more for personal expression and current concerns than cultural preservation.
Relevance
This research has important implications for digital accessibility and platform design. It demonstrates that Deaf users adapt mainstream video technology in creative ways to serve their communication needs, and that specialized platforms like DVTV foster different — often richer — community interactions than mainstream sites. For accessibility practitioners, the findings highlight that providing video functionality alone is insufficient; platform features such as video-based commenting, ASL-specific search categorization, and appropriate sign frame dimensions significantly affect usability for Deaf users. The study also challenges assumptions about universal design by showing that Deaf vloggers develop distinct communication conventions shaped by both technology constraints and cultural norms. This work underscores the need for platforms to support signed language content as a first-class communication mode rather than treating text as the default.
Tags: deaf accessibility · sign language · video accessibility · social media · Deaf Culture · online communities · American Sign Language · vlogging