ASLCORE

Write-Up

American Sign Language (ASL) has historically lacked specific signs to communicate advanced academic subjects. This leads to additional barriers for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people learning and working in these disciplines.

ASLCORE was formed as a project where Deaf content experts (professionals in their respective fields) would work in sessions Deaf Sign Masters to conceptualize and develop new signs for academic terminology. Once these signs are developed, the Sign Masters would model the new signs on video, and the videos would be organized into an online lexicon, to allow people around the world to learn and use these new linguistic tools.

ASLCORE was funded and supported by the Department of Access Services (DAS) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). When I joined the project, the online lexicon consisted of only one academic branch, Philosophy, and it was displayed in a WordPress blog. After initial meetings with project leader Miriam Lerner and the rest of the team, it was clear that to grow, the project needed its own website, to allow the content within to shine.

I designed the website from scratch to address the specific needs of the team. I worked for ASLCORE from November 2016 to the end of 2019, and over the course of this time, I functioned as both the designer and developer of the project, designing the interface and graphical materials, as well as coding and maintaining a custom front- and backend to allow for the scaling the project would need.

My work was not limited to website responsibilities. I was also the dedicated videographer, which meant every time new signs were developed, I managed the camera work, lighting, shot logging, editing, keying, branding, and rendering of every single video that made it to the site. Our set-ups began relatively basic, with me bringing in some of my own lighting equipment and using my own camera. As the project grew, DAS supplied us with high quality cameras, lighting, and dedicated studio space, which drastically increased the production value we were able to output.

The WordPress blog contained approximately 120 entries for Philosophy. By the end of 2019, ASLCORE totaled 2,056 entries across 10 different academic branches. People have used ASLCORE resources across the globe, and I’m honored to have been a part of bringing these resources into the world.

ASLCORE Website