Studio KSL helps the deaf community and local content creators in Kenya integrate sign language videos into literacy content.
Project Name
Studio KSL
Location Implemented
Kenya
Technology Used
Assistive Technology
Competition Entered
Sign On For Literacy Prize
Reading Skill Targeted
Reading Environment
Status
Finalist
Amount Award
Up to $250,000
Collaborators/Partners
Deaf Ability Initiative and The Kenya Society for Deaf Children
The Challenge
Of the estimated 32 million deaf children globally, 80% do not have access to education and only 2% receive education in sign language. Without early access to language, children fail to develop social and cognitive skills at the same rate as their peers, hindering their ability to learn to read and write and isolating them from society over the course of their lives.
The Big Idea
eKitabu launched Studio KSL (Kenyan Sign Language) to help the Deaf community and local content creators integrate sign language videos into early grade readers and produce visual children's storybooks in support of Kenya's new Inclusive Education policy. Investing to set up Studio KSL and streamline production with Deaf actors will lower the cost of producing quality visual storybooks and help to document regional differences in Kenyan Sign Language.
Featured Innovation
Studio KSL
eKitabu's innovation that develops accessible early grade reading materials in Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) to support communication skills as a pathway to literacy for children who are deaf.
