Do Sign Language Videos Improve Web Navigation for Deaf Signer Users?

• Published in: Journal of deaf studies and deaf education Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 242 - 262
• Main Authors: Fajardo, Inmaculada, Parra, Elena, Cañas, José J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 01.07.2010; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Auditory perception; Automobiles; Biological and medical sciences; Classification; Comparative Analysis; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Deaf education; Deafness; Deafness - epidemiology; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Empirical Articles; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Handicap; Humans; Hyperlinks; Information search; Internet; Internet - statistics & numerical data; Medical sciences; Music education; Musical instruments; Navigation; Navigational aids; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Psychology and medicine; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Search Strategies; Searches; Sign Language; Teaching Methods; Video; Video Technology; Videotape Recording; Human; Sign language; Use; Auditory disorder; ENT disease; Information retrieval; Internet; Sensory handicap; Performance; Hearing loss
• ISSN: 1081-4159; 1465-7325
• DOI: 10.1093/deafed/enq005

The efficacy of video-based sign language (SL) navigation aids to improve Web search for Deaf Signers was tested by two experiments. Experiment 1 compared 2 navigation aids based on text hyperlinks linked to embedded SL videos, which differed in the spatial contiguity between the text hyperlink and SL video (contiguous vs. distant). Deaf Signers' performance was similar in Web search using both aids, but a positive correlation between their word categorization abilities and search efficiency appeared in the distant condition. In Experiment 2, the contiguous condition was compared with a text-only hyperlink condition. Deaf Signers became less disorientated (used shorter paths to find the target) in the text plus SL condition than in the text-only condition. In addition, the positive correlation between word categorization abilities and search only appeared in the text-only condition. These findings suggest that SL videos added to text hyperlinks improve Web search efficiency for Deaf Signers.