BSL Archives

Published On - October 9, 2019

Gemma Brackenbury InterpretingTags: BSL, interpreter etiquette, Interpreting

How to Work With an Interpreter: An Insider’s Guide

So, you need to hire an interpreter, do you? If you’ve never used one before, you might not be quite sure how to work with an interpreter. In fact, you probably have some questions about what to expect and how to act. That’s okay – any seasoned interpreter will tell you it’s quite common...

Sign Language Interpreting at Music Events

Published On - September 5, 2019

Richard Brooks Accessibility Services, Interpreting, Sign LanguageTags: American Sign Language, ASL, British Sign Language, BSL, Interpreting, Sign Language

Sign Language Interpreting at Music Events

Sign language interpreters are becoming an increasingly common sight at major music events. The trend was brought to global attention by American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreter Amber Galloway Gallego, who signed Kendrick Lamar’s entire Lollapalooza set back in 2013. More recently, festivalgoers w...

Improving Accessibility Why More Technology Isn’t Always the Answer

Published On - August 20, 2018

Surinder Singh Accessibility Services, Language BlogTags: British Sign Language, BSL, Sign Language

Improving Accessibility: Why More Technology Isn’t Always the Answer

Out of all of the different technologies that science fiction writers have dreamed up, has anything lodged itself in the popular imagination as firmly as the “universal translator?” This fascination with shiny new technology extends to improving accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hea...

Published On - July 13, 2018

Gemma Brackenbury Language Blog, Sign LanguageTags: BSL, Music, Sign Language

10 Amazing Sign Language Music Videos

Sign language interpretations of music used to hard to find. Fortunately, that’s changed over the past few years. More and more musicians have sign language interpreters performing at their events. Deaf artists are harnessing the power of Youtube to share their own sign language music videos o...

Published On - March 15, 2018

Mary Ravenna Language Blog, Sign LanguageTags: British Sign Language, BSL, Deaf

10 Facts About British Sign Language

Did you know that this week is Sign Language Week? This annual observance is promoted by the British Deaf Association to celebrate British Sign language and the British Deaf Community. To celebrate, here are ten interesting facts about British Sign Language (BSL) and BSL interpreters. In the UK, the...

Published On - March 9, 2018

Mary Ravenna Accessibility Services, Interpreting, Language BlogTags: British Sign Language, BSL, Deaf, Sign Language

5 Powerful Lessons from “The Silent Child” About Deaf Communication in a Hearing World

Did you watch the Academy Awards last weekend? One of the most striking moments was when Rachel Shenton came to accept an Oscar for her short film “The Silent Child,” which won Best Live Action Short Film. “The Silent Child” is about a deaf girl who struggles to get by withou...

Published On - May 7, 2014

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: BSL, History

London’s First Deaf Church to Close

It’s the end of an era as London’s first church built specifically for deaf worshipers will be closing soon, the BBC reports. St Saviour’s Church opened for services on Oxford street in 1873. 50 years later, it relocated to Acton. According to the London Deaf Church website, the plac...

Published On - April 30, 2014

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: British Sign Language, BSL

BSL Dialects Fading Away

British Sign Language (BSL) is used by approximately 125,000 deaf adults and 20,000 children in the UK. But they don’t all sign the same way. Just as spoken English varies depending on where you are, British Sign Language has regional dialects of its own. Sometimes, BSL signers from differ...

Published On - March 15, 2012

Surinder Singh Language Blog, Sign LanguageTags: British Sign Language, BSL

BSL Translation in Your Hand

Machine translation has proven a difficult nut to crack, even for written and spoken languages. That’s even more true for sign languages, though we’ve written about some previous innovations in the field like the Fingual translation glove. However, that may be about to change. Researcher...

Published On - July 8, 2011

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: British Sign Language, BSL

Multilingual DVD Production

This page is a step by step guide how we made a Sign Language DVD for the Scottish Prison Service. The Project The brief was to produce an interactive DVD containing induction material for a collection of prisons in Scotland. The Scottish Prison Service wanted the DVD to form part of the induction p...