Pah! Deaf-Developed Video Resources in a Sign Language for Training Deaf Translators

How can a quality translation be achieved if the translators have virtually no resources or training materials available in their own language? This is the challenge facing all the deaf translation teams that have been started worldwide over the past twenty years. After their initial training, deaf translators must translate while having no Biblical resources in their own sign language. They must grapple with resources in other written languages or rely on their translation consultant for exegesis and translation support. What is more, due to not having training materials in sign language, deaf teams are extremely limited in where they can get help in improving their translation skills. This dearth of sign language resources greatly impacts the quality of deaf translators and their work, while also putting a heavy burden on translation consultants to support the teams in quality assurance. In 2020, DOOR International, in partnership with other ETEN organizations, implemented a Translation Resources Development (TRD) project, consisting of a team of experienced deaf translators. This team spent two years developing videos on a range of translation-related topics, in a mix of American Sign Language and International Sign, designed for training translation teams worldwide. This is the first time that an all-deaf team has created translation materials specifically for deaf translators. In this presentation, a TRD team member, RuthAnna Spooner, will showcase parts of the 30+ hours of their TRD videos while discussing the vital importance of engaging with the challenge of sign language resources in order to improve the quality of the deaf translator.