MOBILE ONLINE SIGN LANGUAGE DICTIONARY TO IMPROVE ENGLISH LITERACY AMONGST THE DEAF

The objective of this project is to create application that could assist in improving the English literacy of the Deaf. This application will also be accessible by mobile phone. The user will be able to use their cell phones to lookup the meaning of English phrases that are unknown to them and will receive a South African Sign Language translation of the English phrase as an MMS (Multi Media Service) on their phone. The software will look up the meaning of the English phrase in a database consisting of English words and its South African Sign Language (SASL) translation as a video clip. If no match is found, a no match notification message will be sent. The system, by checking the spelling of words and providing information on unknown phrases, may assist the user to acquire new words as part of his or her vocabulary and as such improve the users literacy. Experimental design is the methodology that was employed to answer the research question namely: Is it possible to improve the English literacy of the Deaf using mobile technology? Interviews were conducted to obtain the user requirements. These requirements were analyzed to find a potential solution.