Integrating deaf people into the job market is a key challenge; more than 50 % of the 1 million deaf people in Europe are unemployed, and those who are employed are often in low-skilled and low-paid jobs. Access to digital jobs and professional VET programs in ICT for deaf and hard-of-hearing people is severely affected by the lack of proper field-specific terminology in the different sign languages, although the needs analysis conducted previously to the submission of this proposal has highlighted a rising trend in deaf entrepreneurship within the digital and ICT sector (ref. field research carried out by the project “Deaf Enterprise”, KA2 2016-1-UK01-KA202-024361, see innovation and complementarity section). The employment rate in ICT is going through a really positive trend in the last years; in fact, according to Eurostat, the number of ICT specialists in the EU grew by 39.1 % from 2011 to 2018, over 6 times as high as the increase (6.5 %) for total employment (shorturl.at/bepE0). As with any other language, lexical wealth of sign languages gets updated in accordance with use and diffusion of terms. New lexical resources for digital and ICT are lagging behind in sign languages, due to the common but misguided myth that written text can be sufficient for deaf people to understand and being able to express themselves, particularly with regards to the field of digital and ICT. According to the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People, there are 52 million European citizens affected by hearing disabilities of any kind, and national sign languages are to be considered their mother tongues. Access to sign languages is comparable to a Human Right, allowing them to be fully included in the daily life of their society. As such, the existing lexicon gap in the digital and ICT domain of sign languages has to be overcome in order to guarantee equal opportunities in accessing the ‘digital community’ of professionals for people with hearing disabilities. The project aims to develop the “EU Digital Framework for Sign Languages”, i.e. an analytical and descriptive database providing the main sign language resources in is (international sign) related to the lexical domain of digital and ICT. The framework will be mainly represented by an e-glossary containing at least 500 lemmas in IS, distributed in five key digital subdomains: 1. Computer science; 2. Cloud networking; 3. Internet of Things (IoT); 4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics 5. Audiovisual and media production. Each entry of the glossary will be augmented with a short video showing how to properly sign it plus additional information like etymology, usage scenarios and situational contexts. Where a lexical gap is detected, new signs will be developed according to the current rules of new signs formation. Apart from the language academic interest, this project pursues the full integration of D/deaf individuals into professional and VET contexts with a degree of digital/ICT intensity. Therefore, the results are thought to be used and adopted by both D/deaf and hearing people, to favour the spread of deaf culture and encourage dialogue and inclusion. To this end, the “Guidelines for the inclusion of D/deaf workers in digital and ICT settings” will be delivered in the final stage of the project. The main target group is represented by D/deaf individuals about to enter the job market in the fields of digital and ICT, then also engaged in VET related training programmes. As a secondary indirect TG, the project encourages the uptake of results by VET trainers, employers and entrepreneurs in the field, sign language interpreters and schools, associations for the inclusion of people with hearing disabilities, who will benefit from project results.
The project developed a digital framework in International Sign related to the domain of ICT and to integrate deaf people into the job market. The glossary counted 521 terms related to these five domains: computer science, cloud networking, internet of things, artificial intelligence and robotics, audiovisual and media production. One in every thousand people is born deaf, that means that in Europe at least more than 7 million born deaf, but if we count the number of people that become deaf within 15 years old, we arrive at a total umber of 52 million people. The promotion of Sign Language for deaf people, for hard of hearing people and for professionals that work in social environments is really important. The project's objective was also to create informative materials about deafness, in particular thanks to scenarios (good practices examples) and the guidelines for employers for the inclusion of deaf workers. The real goal reached by the project, of which we are proud, has been to involve d/Deaf people in the construction of a project based on their needs: it was really significant for our partnership.
EU Digital Framework for Sign Languages idea born from the Turin Institute for the Deaf and Dlearn, in response of a need that the Deaf Community was highlighting: promote Sign Language and support new terms in specific domains, in particular regarding the ICT subjects. Sign Languages can't be taken off from the goals set by the “New Skills Agenda for Europe”: strengthen employability, human capital and competitiveness. Inclusive labor markets should draw on the skills and talents of all, including vulnerable groups. At the same time, the digital transformation of economy and society is reshaping the way people live and work, making thus compulsory to possess adequate digital knowledge and skills to keep up with the last advancements and be active part of the community, which requires the ability to communicate and establish regular exchange. According to the EU Parliament’s Communication Rethinking Education: "in a world of international exchanges, the ability to speak foreign languages is a factor for competitiveness. Languages are more and more important to increase levels of employability and mobility of people, and poor language skills are a major obstacle to free movement of workers.”.