The United Nations officially recognised June 27th as the International Day of Deafblindness. The WFD has supported the hard advocacy work of the World Federation of the Deafblind (WFDB). We celebrate this new recognition of deafblind people who are part of deaf communities around the world.
NHL in ASL, a Sports Emmy-nominated alternate telecast dedicated completely to the Deaf and hard of hearing community using American Sign Language, returns for the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced today. The NHL in partnership with P-X-P will produce every game of the Stanley Cup Final, for the second year in a row, with the telecasts made available to stream on Max in the U.S. and Sportsnet+ in Canada.
NHL in ASL, presented by Scotiabank in Canada, will once again feature Deaf commentators providing real-time coverage of play-by-play and color commentary in ASL during each game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. This first-of-its-kind broadcast will expand in 2025 with player interviews live from both Rogers Place and Amerant Bank Arena, home of the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, respectively, and continue to provide a fully immersive and accessible viewing experience for fans.
Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf is partnering with online learning platform Continued to host professional development courses for audiologists and speech-language pathologists now through spring 2026.
The courses will be facilitated by members of RIT/NTID’s Communication Studies and Services department and will be available in the course libraries for Continued’s AudiologyOnline.com and SpeechPathology.com.
RIT/NTID’s CSS staff will present 15 live professional development webinar-style courses to an audience of audiologists and speech-language pathologist professionals. After the live presentations, the recorded course presentations will remain in Continued’s libraries for an anticipated five years, so that additional professionals may also enroll for asynchronous completion.
Cirrus, a leading sign language accessibility firm offering education-focused interpreting, today announced the launch of CirrusTranslate, a revolutionary new platform that brings written and spoken language to life for the Deaf and hard of hearing community through high-quality American Sign Language (ASL) translation. An ASL translation of this press release is available here.
Cirrus’ dynamic translators help companies, schools, government agencies and non-profits connect with the Deaf community by delivering inclusive, ADA-compliant communication that deepens understanding, builds trust and expresses emotion. CirrusTranslate makes translation simple and efficient.
Users upload their content and the platform delivers video translations in multiple formats. These AI-assisted, human-delivered translations could provide equal access to information for the almost 7 million sign language users across the U.S. and the 70 million users worldwide.
When “The Last of Us,” HBO’s critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic drama, returns for its second season on April 13 it will be available in American Sign Language, a first for a major TV show.
Viewers will be able to choose to watch the video game adaptation with professional deaf performers Daniel Durant and accessibility advocate Leila Hanaumi signing on screen. As of March 31, viewers will also be able to watch the first season of “The Last of Us” in ASL as well.
The show joins recent movie releases on the Max streaming platform that include support for ASL: “Barbie,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
For those who don’t use ASL, it might seem trivial, but for Rachel Berman-Kobylarz, an ASL instructor and associate academic instructor at Northeastern University, it’s a landmark moment in the world of TV. Increasing the visibility of deaf people, both in front of the camera and as interpreters, is invaluable for a community that has not always had on-screen role models.
“I didn’t have deaf representation growing up as a deaf child,” Berman-Kobylarz says. “If there is an opportunity for deaf children to see themselves on the screen while watching a popular movie or tv show with their family and be able to bond with one another, that would be amazing. Can you even imagine the impact that would have on their life?”
The acclaimed PBS investigative documentary series produced at GBH in Boston, announced it has, for the first time, published American Sign Language (ASL)-interpreted videos for each episode of its podcast Breakdown: Turning Anguish Into Action, a six-part series in collaboration with Maine Public Radio and the Portland Press Herald.
Publishing the innovative ASL-interpreted videos is part of an effort by FRONTLINE, Maine Public Radio and the Portland Press Herald to make this award-winning investigative podcast accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community. The videos are available now on FRONTLINE’s website and on the PBS series’ YouTube channel.
Breakdown examined the deadly 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and the aftermath for shooting victims, some of whom were deaf and hard of hearing. The shooting is believed to be the worst mass shooting of deaf people in U.S. history, and as the series reports, deaf victims and their families faced both accessibility constraints and communication and information barriers in the aftermath.
The Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre and New Jersey’s Two River Theater will co-produce the world premiere of the new, original musical Elephant Shoes next year.
Performed in American Sign Language and spoken English, Elephant Shoes will play Two River June 4–28, 2026, as part of its 2025–2026 season. Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies, Grease, Big River) will direct and choreograph.
With a book by Ivan Menchell and music and lyrics by Caroline Kay, this modern-day Cyrano tale follows Cy, who is on the verge of revolutionizing communication with a new invention that translates spoken English into ASL and vice versa. But his breakthrough means nothing if he can’t connect with Roxy, a whip-smart coder. As they work side by side, Cy finds himself falling in love, only to watch his best friend, Chris, sweep Roxy off her feet.
Casting and additional creative team members will be announced at a later date.
Deaf West Artistic Director DJ Kurs said in a statement, “Elephant Shoes is a moving and resonant story about the complexities—and beauty—of communication between Deaf and hearing people. What excites me most is that this new musical has been conceived by Ivan and Caroline from the very beginning as a piece with Deaf characters. I’m especially grateful to be collaborating once again with Jeff Calhoun, whose work on the Broadway revival of Big River with Deaf West over two decades ago was a milestone. And we’re thrilled to be expanding Deaf West’s footprint nationally through this meaningful partnership with Two River Theater in New Jersey.”
For millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people, using sign language to communicate in a world built around spoken words can be exhausting.
Whether it’s ordering food, asking for directions, or taking part in a classroom discussion, barriers show up everywhere.
While interpreters and captioning services can help, they’re often limited, costly, or unavailable when most needed.
As daily life becomes more digital, the need for smart tools that can translate sign language in real time is more urgent than ever.
That’s why researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science have created a new system that could change the way we think about accessibility.
They’ve developed a real-time American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter powered by artificial intelligence.
This system uses deep learning and hand-tracking to convert ASL gestures into written text, all using a regular webcam and off-the-shelf hardware.
“Every day, as a deaf person, you’re reminded of your deafness,” says William Mager, writer of new BBC thriller Reunion.
These reminders can range from having to face medical appointments with no available interpreter to being excluded from important decisions about your own life, he says.
“All those things add up over time and generate a sense of injustice,” Mager says, adding that artist Christine Sun Kim describes this feeling as “deaf rage”.
Ashley McBryde is honoring the fifth anniversary of her acclaimed album ‘Never Will’ with a powerful gesture of inclusivity. The Grand Ole Opry member has partnered with the Deaf Professional Arts Network (DPAN) and AmberG Productions to release American Sign Language (ASL) interpretations of three music videos from her sophomore album: the Platinum-certified ‘One Night Standards,’ album opener ‘Hang In There Girl’ and fan favourite ‘Martha Divine.’
The announcement was shared by McBryde on social media alongside her friend Kim Bryant, marking the initiative as part of National Deaf History Month.
McBryde began learning ASL after undergoing vocal cord surgery, which temporarily left her unable to speak. What started as a necessity evolved into a deeper commitment to accessibility. Throughout her 2023 tour, she began incorporating ASL into her live shows, striving to create a more inclusive experience for her deaf and hard-of-hearing fans.
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