In Uganda, Journalists Face Obstacles Communicating Truth to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The deaf community experiences many obstacles in Uganda, being the most excluded group in the country. Even though Uganda is one of the five countries in Africa that recognizes sign language as an official language, a recent survey by the Uganda National Association of the Deaf estimated that 87% of the community has no access to social services due to a communication barrier. This limits their access to education, health, legal, and public services. Predictably, the deaf community comes across barriers when accessing digital content, accurate information, and other members of the community online, making them especially ill-protected against disinformation.
Willy Chowoo is an investigative journalist as well as the founder of CT Media Uganda. To try and bridge this gap, he launched the Ugandan Sign Language Project. Chowoo started the organization in order to help the 1 million people in Uganda who are deaf and hard of hearing combat disinformation because there are not many accredited organizations that do fact-checking with the deaf community in mind. There is still a lack of sign language interpreters, so he took a modern approach, using smartphones to create multimedia content that would aid deaf audiences and increase their awareness of disinformation.
Digitizing Sign Language
Although interpreters can be on the ground and present for the most important moments in public places, such as during community meetings and in hospitals or schools, the ideal way for the deaf community to receive information online is in video format. Instead of automatically generated captions, a small insert window can be included in the clip that translates via sign language. Chowoo believes the videos should be compatible with major platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok and should include verified information to give the deaf community the most accurate understanding of what is being laid out in a given video.
Challenges Faced in the Integration of Sign Language’s Digital Presence
A significant obstacle for many Ugandans who are deaf and hard of hearing: There is a lack of funding that would provide smartphones that would enable them to take advantage of this considerable opportunity. Some of Chowoo’s trainees did not have the stable incomes needed to sustain them online. Chowoo had 11 trainees and two of them, he notes, did not even have smartphones. He has noticed gaps in digital literacy as well as outdated use of smartphones; initially his trainees lacked the necessary digital skills to conduct robust fact-checking. To help them out, Chowoo pointed them to fact-checking resources such as Dubawa, Africa Check, and Pesa Check. These organizations are committed to providing citizens with accurate information to make sound decisions. Notably, they are Africa’s largest indigenous fact-checking organizations that debunk false and misleading claims. Pesa Check in particular deciphers often confusing or misleading statistics that are quoted by public figures in 15 African countries.
Journalists have the ability to chip in by enrolling in one of the many sign language projects across the country. Importantly, these initiatives offer an effective way for journalists to get a look from an insider’s perspective at the issues that the deaf and hard of hearing communities face. This ultimately helps hearing impaired journalists that are perfectly capable of doing the work and just need the proper avenues to give them a fair chance.
Communicating truth to deaf and hard-of-hearing communities requires a multifaceted approach combining technological innovation, digital literacy enhancement, and collaborative efforts with fact-checking organizations. By collectively addressing these challenges, we can work towards creating a more inclusive and informed journalistic landscape for everyone.
