Reimagining Sign Language Technologies: Analyzing Translation Work of Chinese Deaf Online Content Creators

TL;DR

Sign language translation technologies often misrepresent signed communication and risk linguistic rights. Through in-depth interviews with 13 Chinese deaf online creators, the paper reveals translation as a multilingual, multimodal labor embedded in cultural and political contexts, and it introduces a languaging lens to reimagine design beyond simple sign-to-text mapping. Findings show that creators blend CSL, Signed Chinese, captions, visuals, and cultural knowledge to reach diverse deaf and hearing audiences, while negotiating audience expectations and platform pressures. The authors propose a languaging-centered design approach that supports the thriving of sign languages themselves and treats translation as an emergent, collaborative practice rather than a fixed end product.

Abstract

While sign language translation systems promise to enhance deaf people's access to information and communication, they have been met with strong skepticism from deaf communities due to risks of misrepresenting and oversimplifying the richness of signed communication in technologies. This article provides empirical evidence of the complexity of translation work involved in deaf communication through interviews with 13 deaf Chinese content creators who actively produce and share sign language content on video sharing platforms with both deaf and hearing audiences. By studying this unique group of content creators, our findings highlight the nuances of sign language translation, showing how deaf creators create content with multilingualism and multiculturalism in mind, support meaning making across languages and cultures, and navigate politics involved in their translation work. Grounded in these deaf-led translation practices, we draw on the sociolinguistic concept of (trans)languaging to re-conceptualize and reimagine the design of sign language translation systems.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: Examples of how deaf content creators combine writing and signing using whiteboards, notebooks, and writing pads.
• Figure 1: Screenshots of the video interfaces from platforms used by participants. Bilibili is mainly designed for long-form video content, similar to YouTube. WeChat Articles primarily host written content but allow embedded videos. Kuaishou, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu are designed for short video sharing. All platforms include common content sharing features such as "Like" and "Forward."
• Figure 2: The signer first translated the concept of 'turning point' through literal mapping and then explained the concept using a visual-spatial style of signing. From (a) to (b), they used two signs to represent 'turning' and 'point' separately. From (c) to (d), they visually depicted a turning point. The right hand traced a curve while the other pointed downward and signed 'change' to emphasize a shift or transformation at the bottom. The video is also fully captioned in Chinese. The English translations were added by the lead author.
• Figure 3: The signer explained the concepts of 'direct bullying' and 'indirect bullying' using captions and examples. (a) Both Chinese terms were displayed at the beginning. (b) The caption for 'indirect bullying' disappeared as the signer turned toward the 'direct bullying' caption and illustrated the concept using an example of slapping. (c) The caption for 'direct bullying' disappeared and the 'indirect bullying' caption reappeared as the signer explained the latter concept, using spreading rumors as an example. The video is also fully captioned in Chinese. The English translations were added by the lead author.
• Figure 4: Three examples of sign language videos by deaf content creators featuring (a) translated articles, (b) captions in gloss and Chinese full sentences, and (c) captions in Chinese words and full sentences.