3. Signing Books for children

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Contact data
3.3 Product data
3.4 Analysis of the data

3.4.1 Suppliers / consumers
3.4.2 The product

3.4.2.1 Format
3.4.2.2 Costs
3.4.2.3 Content
3.4.2.4 Language information
3.4.2.5 Sign language presentation
3.4.2.6 Visual information
3.4.2.7 Captions
3.4.2.8 Sound information
3.4.2.9 Editing and special effects
3.4.2.10 Navigation

3.4.3 The production process
3.4.4 The distribution process
3.4.5 The users
3.4.6 Usability aspects

3.4.6.1 Overall
3.4.6.2 Visually impaired persons

3.4.7 Financial aspects

3.1 Introduction

For this workpackage, FODOK collected information about signing books that are available for deaf children in the countries of the EU. Contact was made with the FEPEDA (European Federation of Organisations of Parents of Deaf Children) and the FEAPDA (European Federation of Organisations of Teachers of the Deaf). Both supplied address lists of their members.

3.2 Contact data

Responses to the first questionnaire and requests for information were received from individual parents of deaf children and parents organisations, teachers and schools for the deaf, individual deaf persons and organisations for the deaf, interpreters, producers and publishers of sign language videos, sign language researchers, and many others professionally or personally involved or interested in the upbringing and education of deaf children.

In table 1, the number of people/organisations contacted in this way in each country.

In May '98 a joint visit by City University and FODOK was made to Chase Video Productions in Derby (UK). During the 2-day visit, Colin Ashmore, Wendy Daunt and co-workers showed and discussed the signing books produced by Chase Video Productions and their plans for an international Sign Language Video/CD ROM Library. The visit provided much relevant information.

Also in May '98, a newsletter with first results was distributed by mail and by e-mail (in English and in Dutch) to the respondents. The newsletter was followed up by personal e-mail, fax or phone to several publishers and producers, to provide more data.

3.3 Product data

The data in this chapter are based on the information in catalogues and advertisements of signing books for children. The more detailed information is based on viewing the following (Table 2):

3.4 Analysis of the data

3.4.1 Suppliers / consumers

Publishers of signing books for deaf children vary from commercial companies to not-for-profit and voluntary organisations. The number of productions published (total, not per year) for children by each company varies from 1 to 47 (Table 3).

In the Netherlands, there are at the moment eleven different organisations and companies, producing and/or publishing signing books. Eight of these (also) publish signing books for children. Most of the organisations have produced between one and five videos; several have only produced one each.

In most cases, the Dutch publishers are organisations of or for the deaf and the actual production of the video is contracted out to a commercial video company. Each publisher uses a different video company and those publishers that have published several signing books may each have worked with several different commercial video companies. The collaboration between the publishers - in most cases experts in deafness and sign language but with little or no previous experience in video productions - and the production companies - experts in video productions but with little or no previous experience with sign language productions - was reported as problematic in several instances. Both parties have different priorities and use a different language - often literally, if the publishers are deaf sign language users and the producers are hearing. .

Vi-Taal is the only commercial company in the Netherlands, with a mixed deaf/hearing team. Vi-Taal has only published one series of three signing books for children, in 1994.

The Dutch Deafship Video magazine is produced by an all-deaf team of volunteers.

There are no courses or training facilities in the Netherlands for hearing production teams to become more knowledgeable about deafness and sign language video production. The possibilities for deaf persons to follow courses for video or multimedia productions are also limited and the training they get is geared towards hearing productions.

Signum Gmbh (DE) has produced a number of signing books for children. These productions were made possible by close co-operation between Signum and the University of Hamburg: the children's signing books were partly produced as students' projects. Production has been discontinued, because it was not commercially viable.

Chase Video Productions in GB has a deaf/hearing production team that is closely associated with the school and college for the deaf in Derby. Chase involves teachers and students from the school and college in its production process and offers training courses in multimedia techniques. The output of signing books is much higher for Chase then for any of the Dutch companies, and the continuity of the production process seems much less at risk. Whereas the entire production process of a sign language video may take as long as 2 _ years in the Netherlands, Chase can do the entire production of a simple book such as Baby's first words in one week's time, with a production team of 4-5 persons and all facilities from translation to post-production and marketing on site (C. Ashmore, personal communication).

3.4.2 The product

3.4.2.1 Format

Most of the signing books that have been produced for children are on VHS-tape (PAL in all EU-countries except for France, which uses SECAM). An exception is the Kijkbijbel onder handbereik published by Effatha (NL) in 1997. The Kijkbijbel is a children's bible on three CD-ROMs. On each CD-ROM, stories are presented through pictures (the original pictures from the printed children's bible), captions (text blocks in the bottom right of the screen), sound (the printed text is read out loud by a male voice) and sign language: the story is told in sign language by two deaf signers (one at a time), in the top right half of the screen. On the CD-ROM are the original bible stories from the children's bible (no adaptation), and a dictionary of name-signs and other infrequent words.

Both for videotapes and for CD-ROM, problems may arise in relation to size and length of the productions. The video Meer dan en gebaar, described in Chapter 5, is a 40 minute translation of 7 pages of written text. With this ratio, signing books for the deaf may well become as bulky as Braille-books for the blind.

The physical size of CD-ROMs is smaller. Nevertheless, in the Kijkbijbel voor kinderen (Effatha - NL), a 350 page-long children's bible, is produced on three CD-ROMs (containing the texts and the illustrations as they appear in the book, an audio-version and a sign language version of the stories, as well as a dictionary of 'Bible signs').

3.4.2.2 Costs

The average length of children's signing books varies considerably (from 7 to 200 minutes). Some publishers publish stories separately (a new tape for each story), even if a story is only 7 minutes long. Other publishers produce several stories on a single tape. The average price per tape varies per country: 110 ECU in Denmark, 17 ECU in the Netherlands (prices are only rough estimates, based on limited data). Sometimes a book is included in the price; for other productions a book can be bought separately).

Country	Average length	Average price per tape (ECU)
AT		Contacts reported no videos for children available
BE		Contacts reported no videos for children available
DK		110 ECU
DE
FI		Further information requested, not yet received
GB		20.50 ECU
GR		Contacts reported no videos for children available
ES		Further information requested, not yet received
FR		24 ECU
IE		Contacts reported no videos for children available
IT		No information received
LU		No information received
NL		17 ECU per CD-ROM: 54.50 for 3 CD-ROMs
PT		No information received
SE		36.40 ECU

3.4.2.3 Content

The majority of the signing books that are available for children are based on picture books or fairy tales that have been published for hearing children. In Sweden, some of the videotapes are original stories, told in sign language. The story is then translated into Swedish, and published as a book (e.g. Prinsessan). On most of the other productions, a sign language presenter retells the story in sign language, and is often seen reading or holding the book as well.

Most signing books for children have been produced for children aged between 4 - 12. Two signing books have been produced for toddlers (Wip Wap - NSDSK, NL; Baby's first book - Chase Video Productions, UK). Wip Wap shows 24 short sign language nursery rhymes; Baby's first book is based on the Ladybird book of the same name, and shows the pictures from the book, a signer presenting each sign, with a voice-over for each word. The tape is sold together with the book.

One of the main objectives of many of the signing books for younger children seems to be to teach deaf children (and their parents and siblings) sign language. Many of the signing books for primary school children are developed as bilingual reading materials, and are intended to facilitate the reading of printed books. Signing books for older children are for the most part informational and/or educational:, e.g. with information about science (Scientists in Sign, GB), religion (SIH-SE), or history (Chase-GB).

There are only a small number of signing books for children with information or stories from the deaf community. In Great Britain and Sweden there are a number of signing books on deaf history (Chase-GB, SIH-SE). In the Netherlands a signing book is in production with elderly deaf persons telling stories about their past to deaf young people (Allaradsoog-Hunneschans-NL). In Sweden, there are a few signing books about deaf children in other countries (Kenya, Thailand, SIH-SE).

3.4.2.4 Language information

On all signing books that were viewed for this workpackage, the story is told in the national sign language. One of the earlier Dutch productions (Sprookjes voor Dove Kinderen 1, FODOK-NL), and several of the German signing books (e.g. Hans im Glück, Signum - DE, Hansel und Gretchen, Signum - DE) also have stories presented in sign supported speech. On the signing books produced by Signum that were viewed for this workpackage, each story is told twice: once in German Sign Language, then in German with supporting signs.

Approximately half of the signing books include sound. None of the signing books for children that were viewed have subtitles.

3.4.2.5 Sign Language presentation

In most productions for children that were viewed for this workpackage, the sign language presenter was shown in the main screen. In most signing books only one signer is visible at a time. The signer usually addresses the camera. In a few signing books, a story is told to an audience of one or several children.

A special case is the signing book Het Zakmes, published by the OV-Amsterdam (parents organisation). Het Zakmes is a film that was made for hearing children. It was modified to be accessible to deaf children, by adding sign language interpretation. In this video, two interpreters translate all speech into Dutch Sign Language. The interpreters are visible in the bottom part of the screen, partially overlapping with the movie. Very often, both interpreters are visible at the same time. Each then interprets different (visible and not visible) persons on the screen; props such as hats are used to indicate the person whose speech is being interpreted. In the example above, one of the interpreters appears both on the left and right of the screen. In later films published by OV-Amsterdam, only one signer is used.

The selection of a sign language presenter for a children's production seems to depend on signing skill and 'register', more than on gender or hearing status.

Many different colours are used for the background to the signing; in some signing books, recognition of signs is made more difficult, because of low contrast and interference with the background (e.g. Sprookjes voor dove kinderen 2, FODOK - NL).

3.4.2.6 Visual information

Some signing books for children (e.g. Hans och Greta, SIH - SE) just show a sign language presenter telling the story, with no pictures or other visuals added. In other signing books (e.g. Sprookjes voor Dove Kinderen, FODOK - NL, and Hans im Glück, Signum - DE) the story is not only told in sign language, but also dramatised by actors. In the FODOK production, there is little or no overlap between the story that is told and the parts that are visualised through drama. In the Signum production, there is complete overlap: presentation by a signer of part of the story in sign language, followed by a dramatisation of that section.

In most productions, static pictures are used to support the story. In some signing books the pictures are shown simultaneously with the sign language presentation (with the signer next to or directly in front of the picture); in many others the child is first presented with information in sign language, and then with the pictures that support this information. In most signing books that were viewed for this workpackage, there were no more than two active 'windows' on screen at a time, and only one of these had dynamic information.

Again, the signing books produced by OV-Amsterdam are an exception. On the main window in these signing books, a hearing movie is shown. One, or in the case of Het Zakmes, two sign language presenters, are added (via ChromaKey) to translate all spoken words into sign language. No captions are added, and the original soundtrack is used. The two sign language interpreters in Het Zakmes sometimes sign at the same time; children then have to divide their attention between the film on the main screen, and the two sign language interpreters. The spatial relationship between the two interpreters and the persons on the film does not always match (in the film, people move about and change positions all the time, whereas the interpreters have fixed positions in the bottom half of the screen). The effectiveness of this method has not been evaluated objectively; in later productions, however, OV-Amsterdam has used only one sign language interpreter at a time.

3.4.2.7 Captions

In the signing books that were viewed for this workpackage, there were no captions. FIAPAS (ES) report a video library of over 200 titles (with an unknown number for children). These signing books, which are mainstream films or TV programmes, each have an introduction and summary in sign language. The film itself, however, is not signed, but subtitled. The subtitles provide supplementary information (for example, to distinguish speakers).

3.4.2.8 Sound information

Most signing books for children have a voice-over. Exceptions are the signing books produced by Guyot, a school for the deaf in the Netherlands, and the series Taalplan voor kinderen, produced by Effatha, also a school for the deaf in the Netherlands. If signing books are to be used in the setting of a school for the deaf, sound is not necessary. For home use, however, signing books with a voice-over are more attractive and more accessible for hearing relatives, siblings and friends who do not (yet) know sign language.

When stories are presented in sign supported speech (e.g. Hans im Glück, Signum-DE, Sprookjes voor Dove Kinderen 1, FODOK-NL), the sound track can include the voice of the signer recorded as s/he is signing, or a (different) voice-over added afterwards. Hans im Glück uses a voice-over that is often not in sync with the lip movements of the signer. This might be confusing to hard-of-hearing children, since what they hear is not what they see.

If a voice-over is added, the voice is not always of the same gender or age as the signer.

3.4.2.9 Editing and special effects

Most signing books for children use a fairly basic set-up. In many cases, a fixed camera is used with a fixed angle. An entire video may consist of one fixed shot, recorded from one camera and viewpoint.

3.4.2.10 Navigation

The navigation possibilities of most signing books for children are very limited. In some cases, not even a table of contents is included in the box.

The interactivity and the navigation possibilities of the only CD-ROM that was available for this workpackage (the Kijkbijbel on CD-ROM, by Effatha NL) are also fairly limited. There is a table of contents at the start of each CD-ROM, a next page, home, one page back- and a dictionary button on each page. The user cannot add bookmarks or notes, there is no search option for text, there are no hypertext links, and the user cannot quote from either the text or the sign language clips.

3.4.3 The production process

If a production is based on a printed book, the first step in the production process is to get the permission of the publisher of the original book to translate the story into sign language and for use of the illustrations. Some publishers waive their copyrights for sign language productions for the deaf, in the same way that copyrights are waived for Braille or talking books for the blind. In other cases, publishers may claim a percentage of each videotape that is sold, or may require that the video is only sold together with the book. Some publishers have refused to give permission to have their books produced in a signing format.

The next step in production usually is to rewrite the story in easy to read written language (limited vocabulary, short and simple sentence structures, basic story schemas), and then to translate the story into sign language. Notes are made about the sign language translation, but a full translation cannot be written down since there is no writing system for sign languages. The sign language presenter has to learn the signed text by heart, and/or has to translate 'on the spot' while reading cue-cards that are placed next to the camera or - if the sign language presenter is hearing: while listening to an audio version of the text. In some signing books, the presenter can be seen holding his text, or can be seen reading from a text placed on the floor. Chase Video Productions often uses a second signer, out of shot, to cue the signer being recorded: the signer on camera 'shadow signs' the invisible cuer.

To prevent 'cut-off' of hands, another person may watch a TV monitor during the recording session, to safeguard the proper recording of signs.

The signing books for children viewed for this workpackage do not show much editing effects. Shots of the signer(s) are alternated with visuals. In most cases, the camera is in a fixed position.

3.4.4 The distribution process

The distribution process is not very well developed for children's signing books. Usually, publishers sell the signing book directly to the customers. Many publishers do not have a catalogue of their productions, or only a simple list with titles and prices. Often, the members of the organisation that has produced a signing book are notified by direct mail of new productions. Others receive no information.

Signing books for children are rarely, if ever, available in regular bookstores. Public libraries may be willing to purchase children's signing books, but are rarely aware of what productions are available.

Chase Video Productions (GB) markets its signing books internationally to Norway. In Norway, hearing children have to learn English as a foreign language. Deaf children are taught British Sign Language as a foreign language, and the signing books from Chase are used as educational resources to this end.

3.4.5 The users

Signing books for children are bought by parents and by schools for the deaf. Signing books are viewed at home, often in the company of hearing siblings, friends, parents and other relatives - who may not know sign language well or at all.

In schools for the deaf, signing books are usually viewed by whole classes of children and are often used for educational purposes: to teach sign language, to teach reading, or as an educational resource for a school subject, e.g. history. In many schools for the deaf, children can also watch signing books individually. A class may have a 'video corner', often integrated with a 'book corner' where children can watch signing books and/or read printed books during breaks or reading periods. Some schools for the deaf have a video corner in the school library or resource centre. Derby School for the Deaf has a video room, where children can watch signing books but can also record themselves, e.g. for homework assignments and/or for sign language practice.

3.4.6 Usability aspects

3.4.6.1 Overall

Little or no usability research is done at any stage during the production and distribution of signing books for children. An exception are those that are produced by, or in close co-operation with, a school for the deaf. Trial versions may then be shown to groups of children, and their reactions watched and discussed with the children, and/or their teachers or parents. The methodology and the results of these tests however, have never been published.

Review articles are generally favourable, if only because so few signing books for children are available in most countries that every new signing book is an asset. No information is available about whether (intermediate) users are more critical in countries where larger numbers of signing books are produced.

3.4.6.2 Visually impaired persons

No publisher of signing books for children - to our knowledge - takes into account the needs of visually impaired deaf children and/or tests the usability of productions with this specific target group.

3.4.7 Financial aspects

The market for signing books is small. Most productions are made with government or private funding. Chase Video Productions (GB) finances some of their signing books for children from other corporate and government productions. Most publishers were reluctant to share information on the actual costs of production and numbers sold.

Chase Video Productions charges the following rates for corporate productions (prices 1998):