Incorporating avatar signing into assessment items

Approximately 50,000 people in the UK, mostly those born deaf, use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language (RNID, 2007). The Disability Discrimination Act puts new responsibilities onto examination boards to ensure adequate access for all candidates, however we are aware of ongoing issues and limitations with the current support that is offered to deaf candidates, and have rejected other solutions on the basis of cost and practicality. This project explores the possibility of incorporating encoded sign language into assessment items which can then be signed by an avatar