(Towards) Sign Language Machine Translation in Practice

This chapter presents perspectives from several European deaf communities on sign language machine translation (SLMT). We elaborate on work done by the European Union of the Deaf within tworecently completed European SLMT projects, EASIER and SignON. Within these projects, EUD collected data from various European deaf communities about their concerns, anticipations, and desires for the future of SLMT. The chapter showcases the perspectives of deaf communities on topics such as use cases, researcher attitudes, inclusive technology design, and lays the groundwork for a real inclusive and effective approach to the development of SLMT. Emphasizing co-creation, these projects serve as a testament to the invaluable contribution of deaf experts and deaf communities in developing sign language technologies.