Sign language and information sharing platform for hearing impaired people and their caretaker

Abstract

Sign language is the visual manual modality to convey meaning. It is expressed through manual sign stream and is fully-fledged natural languages with their own grammar and lexicon. Its developed due to the existence of deaf and mute people who need to communicate with other people in society but are naturally barred. Therefore, communication barrier is a great phenomenon in society and seeking of effective paths of communication leads to a bilateral comprehension among the deaf and their caretakers. The purpose of the research project was to address the communication gap among the deaf and dumb communities by developing a sign language and information sharing platform to enable them learn sign language easily. Availability of an information sharing platform will enable the deaf and care takers learn the behavior and dynamic characteristics of the deaf people. To develop the platform, data was collected using interviews and document reviewing. Content analysis was used to summarize and interpret data collected during the interviews, from which the system requirements for the sign language and information sharing platform were derived. Microsoft Visio was used to design the Context Diagram, DFD, ERDs and Use Cases of the application. The design of the application was implemented using Android studio for mobile application development, PHP in developing APIs and MySql in implementing the database. In conclusion,the research project led to the development of a platform which can help the deaf and caretakers who don’t know English to learn sign language and the distinct behaviors of the deaf and mute. This is envisioned to enhance care for the deaf and mute, although the preliminary evaluation of the platform shows promising results. Therefore, there is need to evaluate the platform in more contexts in order to fully achieve the desired outcomes. This comes in the future work.