DISTANCE SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING FOR DEAF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Summary It is not always easy to integrate Deaf students in the mainstream educational system for reasons that pertain mainly to communication. Not many teachers are aware of the special needs of Deaf students and many see sign language interpreters as unwelcome intruders in their classroom. This in mind, the Distance Learning Unit at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, in Portugal, set up a Project to provide sign language interpreting for Deaf students attending regular classes. Offering signing at a distance implied careful planning, defining possible strategies, finding technical solutions, managing human resources and thorough testing. Four possible scenarios were drawn up and tested: 1. Netmeeting 2. Netmeeting + Video conference system 3. Video conference system + Web conferencing system 4. Video conference system Various technical and operational problems had to be overcome. However, a final solution was found using scenario 2 and the service was made available in the school year of 20082009. This presentation will provide details on the technical, educational and social implications of providing simultaneous and consecutive sign language interpreting for Deaf students attending higher education.