The UW Daily reports on CSE professor Richard Ladner’s work on developing a science-friendly American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary.
“Working with professors at Gallaudet University and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Ladner has created the ASL-STEM Forum, a site on which users can post signs for vocabulary for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
“Due to the broadness of its use, ASL doesn’t have many standardized terms that are common in STEM fields. The forum boasts almost 3,000 signs that students can look through for their education.
“‘More than half of universities in the U.S. have at least one deaf student; UW has 20 or 30,’ Ladner said. ‘A good number of them use sign language, and their access to science is somewhat limited. If there aren’t signs for terms, then they need to be spelled out; that takes a lot of time, so they’re missing out on information.'”