The purpose of the TechWhiz project was to advance inclusive higher education by tearing down the barriers that deaf students face when coming across new concepts that have no corresponding sign language sign, thus requiring an explanation for a swift takeover of new knowledge in a specific study field. TechWhiz aimed to assist deaf students gaining equal access to education and enhance their learning experience. The specific objectives of the project were: - develop an online semi-automatic platform to dynamically create, maintain and search a glossary providing explanations of technical or scientific terms in national sign languages, - deploy a version of a glossary for the study fields of Information Technologies and Electrical Engineering in the partners’ sign languages (Portuguese, German, Slovenian Greek and Cypriot sign languages), - empower non-expert users to understand and effectively use the TechWhiz platform.
Technical terms are vital in scientific and technical fields, acting as concise shorthand to convey complex ideas, but they can also make prose dense; clarity can be improved by tailoring terms to the audience, providing definitions and including a glossary in each one’s first language. Deaf students often face significant challenges in education because sign languages, their first languages, and spoken languages are distinct, with different structures and limited overlap. Forcing deaf students to study through spoken or written languages they do not master undermines equity and inclusivity, particularly in higher education, where technical vocabulary is often lacking in sign languages. This creates barriers to understanding and progress, leaving deaf students at a disadvantage in fields requiring specialized terminology, ultimately hindering their academic and professional aspirations. To overcome such barriers, we need tools that can introduce and explain technical concepts from specific areas of knowledge to deaf students in sign language.