Joint Bilingual Navigation of Informed Consent and Intake Forms in American Sign Language and Written English

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Accessibility Technology
• Sign Language Recognition

Background:

• Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals face significant health disparities due to communication accessibility barriers.
• Written English-only forms exclude the 500,000+ American Sign Language (ASL) users in the U.S. from crucial healthcare and employment processes.
• Existing digital forms lack support for native sign language users, hindering informed consent and data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel bilingual digital form supporting both ASL and written English.
• To assess the usability and user acceptance of joint bilingual navigation for informed consent and intake.
• To demonstrate improved accessibility for Deaf signers and hearing personnel.

Main Methods:

• Development of a bilingual informed consent and intake form integrating ASL recognition and touchscreen input.
• Implementation of 'joint bilingual navigation' allowing interaction via camera (ASL) or touchscreen (English).
• User studies involving Deaf ASL signers and hearing non-signing staff to assess interest and usability.

Main Results:

• The bilingual form effectively supported navigation and interaction for both ASL and English users.
• User studies indicated positive reception and high interest from both Deaf signers and hearing intake staff.
• The system successfully facilitated informed consent and signature acquisition from Deaf participants.

Conclusions:

• Bilingual digital forms utilizing ASL and English significantly enhance accessibility in healthcare and employment.
• Joint bilingual navigation is an effective approach for inclusive digital interactions.
• This technology has broad applicability for improving accessibility in various domains requiring user interaction.