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• ASL Educators' Perspectives on AI for Enhancing Student Learning in American Sign Language Education

  Saad Hassan, Laleh Nourian, Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Michelle M Olson, Toni D'aurio, Kanupriya Agarwal, Syeda Mah Noor Asad, Garreth W. Tigwell, Matt Huenerfauth · 2026 · CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This CHI 2026 paper from a multi-institution US team (Tulane, Rochester Institute of Technology, Birmingham City University) investigates how AI could support American Sign Language (ASL) education — and centres, for the first time in this literature, the perspectives of the…

  American Sign Language · ASL · sign language education · deaf educators · AI in education

• Reclaiming VR Design Authority: Deaf Signers Shaping Immersive Classrooms

  Shuxu Huffman, Laura South, Matthew James Buckman, Raja Kushalnagar, Francisco Raul Ortega, Abraham Glasser · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper reports a Deaf-led, ASL-first study of a VR classroom prototype designed to reduce the persistent "visual attention split" that Deaf students experience in remote and online classrooms, where gaze must constantly shuttle between a signing instructor and instructional…

  deaf and hard of hearing · deaf tech · virtual reality · visual attention split · american sign language

• "We need a vision first": Speculating Deaf-Centered Immersive Classrooms

  Shuxu Huffman, Abraham Glasser, Christopher Hayes, Christian Vogler, Raja Kushalnagar · 2026 · Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Huffman and colleagues at Gallaudet University present an all-Deaf-authored speculative design study that asks not how extended-reality (XR) classrooms can be retrofitted for Deaf students, but what XR classrooms should look like when Deaf teachers lead the design from scratch.…

  Deaf Tech · extended reality · Deaf culture · Deaf education · speculative design

• Exploring Collaboration to Center the Deaf Community in Sign Language AI

  Rie Kamikubo, Abraham Glasser, Alex X Lu, Hal Daumé III, Hernisa Kacorri, Danielle Bragg · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper investigates the critical disconnect between machine learning (ML) practitioners and Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) signers in the development of sign language AI technologies. Despite sign language processing's promise for societal inclusivity, the field…

  Deaf community · sign language · American Sign Language · machine learning · participatory AI

• CoSignPlay: A Collaborative Approach to Learning Non-Manual Signs in ASL for Hearing Families with Deaf Children

  Xuanyu Liu, Hsin-Le Cheng, Guillaume Chastel, Margaret Chastel, Zhen Bai · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper introduces CoSignPlay, a novel collaborative learning approach for teaching non-manual signs (NMS) in American Sign Language to hearing families with deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. Over 90% of DHH children are born to hearing families, and without accessible…

  American Sign Language · non-manual signs · deaf and hard of hearing · collaborative learning · avatar

• Joint Bilingual Navigation of Informed Consent and Intake Forms in American Sign Language and Written English

  Matthew Seita, Michaela Usha, Rachel Skwersky, Poorna Kushalnagar, Raja Kushalnagar · 2025 · Proceedings of the 22nd International Web for All Conference (W4A 2025)

  This paper presents a joint bilingual informed consent and intake form that can be navigated simultaneously in American Sign Language (ASL) and written English, addressing a critical accessibility barrier for the approximately 500,000 Americans who primarily use ASL. Current…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language recognition · informed consent · healthcare accessibility · American Sign Language

• Exploring the Benefits and Applications of Video-Span Selection and Search for Real-Time Support in Sign Language Video Comprehension among ASL Learners

  Saad Hassan, Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Akhter Al Amin, Laleh Nourian, Diego Navarro, Sooyeon Lee, Alexis Gordon, Matthew Watkins, Garreth W. Tigwell, Matt Huenerfauth · 2024 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research investigates how to better support hearing students learning American Sign Language (ASL) when they encounter unfamiliar signs in video content. Existing ASL dictionary tools present significant barriers: they require learners to either recall and enter linguistic…

  American Sign Language · sign language learning · video comprehension · dictionary lookup · Deaf and hard of hearing

• The Sem-Lex Benchmark: Modeling ASL Signs and their Phonemes

  Lee Kezar, Jesse Thomason, Naomi Caselli, Zed Sehyr, Elana Pontecorvo · 2023 · ASSETS '23: Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper introduces the Sem-Lex Benchmark, the largest curated dataset of its kind for American Sign Language (ASL) isolated sign recognition, containing over 84,000 videos of isolated sign productions from 41 deaf ASL signers. The dataset addresses two critical barriers in…

  sign language recognition · American Sign Language · machine learning · phonology · dataset

• User Perceptions and Preferences for Online Surveys in American Sign Language: An Exploratory Study

  Rachel Boll, Shruti Mahajan, Tish Burke, Khulood Alkhudaidi, Brittany Henriques, Isabelle Cordova, Zoey Walker, Erin T. Solovey, Jeanne Reis · 2023 · Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents SL-Surveys, an interactive prototype survey tool designed from the ground up for American Sign Language (ASL) rather than retrofitting text-based survey platforms with ASL video content. The research team, which included Deaf ASL-signing researchers,…

  deaf and hard of hearing · American Sign Language · survey design · user experience · ASL-centric design

• Support in the Moment: Benefits and use of video-span selection and search for sign-language video comprehension among ASL learners

  Saad Hassan, Akhter Al Amin, Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Diego Navarro, Alexis Gordon, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2022 · Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22)

  This paper investigates technology to support American Sign Language (ASL) learners in comprehending challenging sign-language videos by enabling in-context dictionary lookup. The researchers conducted two studies at Rochester Institute of Technology. Study 1 interviewed 14 ASL…

  sign language · American Sign Language · ASL · video comprehension · dictionary search

• Analyzing Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users' Behavior, Usage, and Interaction with a Personal Assistant Device that Understands Sign-Language Input

  Abraham Glasser, Matthew Watkins, Kira Hart, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2022 · Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22)

  This CHI 2022 paper investigates how Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) ASL signers would actually use a personal assistant device (such as an Amazon Echo Show or Google Home) if it could understand American Sign Language commands. The authors position their work against the…

  sign language · american sign language · deaf and hard of hearing · personal assistants · voice assistants

• Design and Evaluation of Hybrid Search for American Sign Language to English Dictionaries: Making the Most of Imperfect Sign Recognition

  Saad Hassan, Akhter Al Amin, Alexis Gordon, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2022 · Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22)

  This CHI 2022 paper tackles a practical problem faced by the roughly 200,000 students currently studying American Sign Language (ASL) in the US: how do you look up the meaning of a sign you just saw when you don't know its English gloss? Unlike written languages, ASL has no…

  american sign language · sign language · sign language recognition · search interfaces · dictionary

• At a Different Pace: Evaluating Whether Users Prefer Timing Parameters in American Sign Language Animations to Differ from Human Signers' Timing

  Sedeeq Al-khazraji, Becca Dingman, Sooyeon Lee, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '21)

  This paper investigates whether deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) ASL signers actually prefer sign language animations with timing parameters that match human signers, or whether they prefer some form of exaggeration for additional clarity. Adding ASL animations to websites can…

  American Sign Language · sign language animation · deaf and hard of hearing · timing parameters · avatar

• American Sign Language Video Anonymization to Support Online Participation of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users

  Sooyeon Lee, Abraham Glasser, Becca Dingman, Zhaoyang Xia, Dimitris Metaxas, Carol Neidle, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · ASSETS '21: The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals who prefer to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) face a unique privacy barrier online: because ASL is a visual language conveyed through movements of the face, head, hands, and torso, and because the face carries essential…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · American Sign Language · anonymization · privacy

• Effect of Sign-recognition Performance on the Usability of Sign-language Dictionary Search

  Saad Hassan, Oliver Alonzo, Abraham Glasser, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper investigates how the performance of sign-language recognition technology affects user satisfaction with ASL dictionary search systems. Unlike written languages where users can type unfamiliar words to look them up, ASL learners who encounter an unfamiliar sign cannot…

  American Sign Language · ASL · sign language recognition · dictionary search · information retrieval

• Deaf Users' Preferences Among Wake-Up Approaches during Sign-Language Interaction with Personal Assistant Devices

  Vaishnavi Mande, Abraham Glasser, Becca Dingman, Matt Huenerfauth · 2021 · Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '21)

  This CHI 2021 Extended Abstract investigates a narrow but previously unexplored question: if future personal-assistant devices (Alexa, Google Assistant, etc.) could recognise sign language, how should Deaf users wake them up? Current wake-up mechanisms — speaking a wake-word…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · personal assistants · voice interface · conversational user interfaces

• Teaching ASL Signs using Signing Avatars and Immersive Learning in Virtual Reality

  Lorna C. Quandt, Jason Lamberton, Athena S. Willis, Jianye Wang, Kaitlyn Weeks, Emily Kubicek, Melissa Malzkuhn · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This demonstration paper presents SAIL (Signing Avatars & Immersive Learning), the first ASL instructional system built for immersive virtual reality. Developed at Gallaudet University by a majority-Deaf team, SAIL uses a signing avatar — a computer-animated virtual human…

  sign language · American Sign Language · virtual reality · signing avatars · motion capture

• Creating questionnaires that align with ASL linguistic principles and cultural practices within the Deaf community

  Rachel Boll, Shruti Mahajan, Jeanne Reis, Erin T. Solovey · 2020 · ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and The Learning Center for the Deaf addresses a fundamental gap in HCI research methodology: most interactive computing tools, including survey and questionnaire platforms, are designed exclusively for text and written…

  deaf · American Sign Language · questionnaire design · research methods · Deaf culture

• Accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users: Sign Language Conversational User Interfaces

  Abraham Glasser, Vaishnavi Mande, Matt Huenerfauth · 2020 · Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI '20)

  This short CUI 2020 position paper (3 pages, presented at the CUI@CHI workshop) lays out the research agenda for making voice-based conversational user interfaces (CUIs) — Alexa, Google Assistant, and similar personal assistant devices — accessible to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing…

  deaf and hard of hearing · sign language · conversational user interfaces · personal assistants · american sign language

• Empirical Investigation of Users' Preferred Timing Parameters for American Sign Language Animations

  Sedeeq Al-khazraji, Becca Dingman, Matt Huenerfauth · 2020 · Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20)

  This CHI 2020 Late-Breaking Work (7 pages) investigates a narrow but consequential HCI question: what timing values should be used when generating American Sign Language (ASL) animations from a script, so that Deaf viewers find them comfortable to watch? ASL is a primary…

  american sign language · sign language animation · signing avatar · deaf and hard of hearing · web accessibility

• Sign Language Interfaces: Discussing the Field's Biggest Challenges

  Danielle Bragg, Meredith Ringel Morris, Christian Vogler, Raja Kushalnagar, Matt Huenerfauth, Hernisa Kacorri · 2020 · Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20)

  This CHI 2020 Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting paper (5 pages) is an organising document rather than a conventional research paper. It convenes HCI and accessibility researchers working on sign-language interfaces around the five calls-to-action laid out in Bragg et al.’s…

  sign language · deaf and hard of hearing · deaf culture · american sign language · research methodology

• Design and Psychometric Evaluation of American Sign Language Translations of Usability Questionnaires

  Larwan Berke, Matt Huenerfauth, Kasmira Patel · 2019 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper presents the first formally translated and psychometrically validated American Sign Language (ASL) versions of two widely used usability questionnaires: the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Many deaf adults in the United States have lower…

  American Sign Language · deaf and hard of hearing · usability questionnaires · psychometrics · SUS

• Closed ASL Interpreting for Online Videos

  Raja Kushalnagar, Matthew Seita, Abraham Glasser · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper introduces "closed interpreting," a concept analogous to closed captioning but for sign language interpretation of online videos. While many deaf viewers prefer ASL interpreters over captions (as verbatim captioning speed often exceeds reading abilities, and deaf…

  American Sign Language · ASL · Deaf and hard of hearing · sign language interpreting · video accessibility

• Real-Time Depth-Camera Based Hand Tracking for ASL Recognition

  Brandon Taylor, Anind Dey, Daniel Siewiorek, Asim Smailagic · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This demonstration paper validates the use of a publicly available real-time hand tracking algorithm (Sphere-Mesh) for recognizing American Sign Language (ASL) handshapes using a depth camera. Sign Language Recognition (SLR) has long been a motivating goal for high-precision…

  sign language recognition · hand tracking · computer vision · depth camera · machine learning

• Design and Psychometric Evaluation of an American Sign Language Translation of the System Usability Scale

  Matt Huenerfauth, Kasmira Patel, Larwan Berke · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17)

  This paper addresses a significant gap in accessibility research methodology: the lack of standardized usability questionnaires available in American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) participants. The System Usability Scale (SUS) is one of the most widely…

  sign language · deaf accessibility · usability testing · survey translation · psychometrics