Dutch Sign Language Brochure

Dutch Sign Language

It’s often difficult to learn a sign language just using drawings and photographs found in traditional sign language dictionaries. In a successful collaboration with the Dutch Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child (NSDSK) and Durham University (UK), BSL developed a sign language database (SignBase). This stored sign language videos, and grammatical information, alongside other textual and visual information. Following on from this, we developed a series of educational CD-roms, containing films and still images of signs used in Dutch Sign Language (NGT) and British Sign Language (confusingly- BSL).

Dutch Sign Language Brochure

To help hard of hearing children, the NSDSK had spent many years looking for the best way to visualize sign language. The answer came using BSL’s innovative digital asset management software to develop the unique SignBase database. Working with the NSDSK, we used the contents  to produce a series of three popular CD-ROM products.  Each CD-ROM contained some 1,000 film fragments and still images to illustrate individual NGT signs. Using an interactive dictionary, users could quickly and easily search for signs using text, hand shape or sign positions. They then watched how to translate a Dutch word into NGT, and vice-versa, with example sentences and short stories illustrating their use.  A specially-developed quiz encouraged children, their family, and friends to learn sign language in a playful way.