MobileASL:: intelligibility of sign language video as constrained by mobile phone technology
Proceedings of the 8th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility
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Even though Deaf people in South Africa use texting via cell phones to communicate with hearing people they seldom use it amongst themselves. It is assumed that video messaging will be more accessible for the Deaf as their level of literacy may prevent them from making effective use of information that is disseminated via mass texting. The principal objective of the research was thus to explore a cost effective and efficient mass multimedia messaging system. The intention was to adapt a successful text-based mass notification system, developed by a local non-governmental organization, to accommodate efficient and affordable video mass messaging for Deaf people. The questions that underpin this research are: How should we compare and evaluate various video streaming messaging methods to find the most effective streaming method to deliver video messages? What transport vehicles should we consider: multimedia messaging service, the web, electronic mail or a cell phone resident push/pull application? What is the cost to the end-user and service provider and how can we make such a service more affordable? How does the video quality in terms of sign language vary between each transport vehicle? A mixed research methodology approach was followed to help answer the research questions. The preliminary results indicate that most Deaf people prefer to use the short message service prototype with a web-link to the video rather than the multimedia messaging service prototype with the video attached. Although Deaf people prefer to use the video short message service prototype they are still very concerned about the cost of using the system. They also are concerned about the quality of the sign language video.