Sign Language Interpretation
Why we do not offer sign language interpretation
Our platform specializes in real-time live streaming. In most cases, the broadcast delay does not exceed 3 seconds, making automatic simultaneous sign language interpretation virtually impossible. Converting speech into text and then translating it into sign language or another language requires additional time, which is simply not available in such a fast-paced format.
Large companies like Google have been working on automated sign language interpretation solutions for years, yet even they face significant challenges. For example, YouTube processes pre-recorded videos rather than working in real time, and even then, the quality of subtitles and automated translations leaves much to be desired. If everything is carefully prepared in advance—a high-quality recording, a narrator with perfect diction—the results can be quite good. However, if the speaker's diction is complex or unclear, automatic algorithms may misinterpret words, distorting the intended meaning and making subtitles unreliable. Moreover, even today, YouTube often generates subtitles as a continuous block of text without punctuation or capitalization, making them difficult to read and comprehend.
Challenges and limitations
Various technologies exist today for automatic speech recognition and translation into sign language or subtitles, including AI-powered solutions such as ChatGPT. However, using them in real time presents two major obstacles:
Transmission delay. Even under ideal conditions, additional time is required for speech analysis, translation generation, subtitle creation, and sign language visualization.
High costs. Integrating such technologies into live broadcasts requires significant computational resources, which would inevitably increase the cost of our services.
We closely monitor technological advancements in this area, but for now, quality remains our top priority. We are not interested in implementing features "just for the sake of it" if they cannot deliver reliable and accurate results.
Our approach "Convenience and quality"
At this stage, we adhere to a "people-for-people" approach. This means that instead of offering an automated but low-quality sign language interpretation, we encourage users to arrange this process independently. Possible solutions include:
Hiring a professional sign language interpreter to participate in the live broadcast.
Adding sign language interpretation to a recorded webinar, ensuring high translation quality and a better viewing experience.
We strive to make our platform as convenient and high-quality as possible. As long as technological solutions in this area remain imperfect, we will not implement features that fail to meet our standards. However, if future advancements enable reliable and real-time sign language interpretation without compromising quality, we will certainly consider integrating them.
Updated on: 31/01/2025
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