Displaying items by tag: deaf people

Less than 2% of deaf people follow Jesus. A new form of sign language technology can now transform presenting Scripture to a deaf person. ‘Chameleon’ features a digital avatar, or animated character, signing the Bible to the viewer. Chameleon technology offered by Wycliffe Bible Translators and global partners transcends race and culture. ‘As a white man, if I sign the Bible to another culture, I don't want that culture to think the Scripture is merely “the white man's beliefs”.’ The avatar can be converted to the local nationality, making the translator's appearance anonymous. Filming someone signing the gospel in one of these countries can be dangerous. The avatar allows Christian sign language to be presented in countries unfriendly to the Bible while protecting the person responsible for the translation. A win for the deaf community, taking Bible translation to the next level.

Wearing face masks in shops creates massive communication barriers for deaf people who lip-read. The group Deaf Connect have produced cards which deaf people can carry round, asking people to remove their masks when they are speaking to them. Action on Hearing Loss is advising the general public to remove their masks, make sure they face the person they are speaking to and recommend speech-to-text apps. Janice Silo from Signs of God told Premier Christian Radio that lip-reading people wearing masks is impossible. She said, ‘Sometimes we ask people to write things down and they behave as if that is beneath them. Like they'd never heard of paper and pencil before! But writing stuff down is really useful. Also, when coronavirus is finished and we don't have to wear masks any more, please continue what you've been doing, being patient and writing stuff down.’