Signapse and SyncWords Bring Real-Time ASL to Live Programming

Signapse has partnered with SyncWords to make near real-time American Sign Language (ASL) available as part of the live streaming workflow.

The integration allows broadcasters, event producers and streaming platforms to add a photorealistic ASL signer to live video using an SRT feed. For organizations already using SyncWords for captions or subtitles, there is no need to create a separate production workflow for ASL.

Making ASL available across more live programming

For many Deaf viewers, ASL is their primary language, so sign language can be an important part of making live programming accessible.

Human interpreters remain an essential part of accessibility, particularly for events where interpretation requires interaction, context and human judgment. At the same time, it isn’t possible to staff every hour of every channel or every live event with an interpreter.

A news channel may need to provide accessibility overnight. A broadcaster may have an unexpected live event. An organization may want to make a large amount of programming available in ASL but have limited access to interpreters.

These are some of the situations where automated signing can help extend coverage.

How the integration works

The workflow starts with the same SRT contribution feed being used for live captions or subtitles.

SyncWords performs speech recognition on the incoming audio, and the resulting transcript is passed to the Signapse Digital Signer. Signapse generates the ASL translation and the signer is composited into the video before the finished stream is returned over SRT.

The signer can be positioned within the program in a way that fits the production. It can appear as a corner overlay, lower-third style presentation, picture-in-picture or a larger part of the screen, with the size and position adjusted to suit the broadcaster’s graphics and layout. There is no need for additional hardware or a second encoder to add ASL to an existing SyncWords workflow.

ASL alongside captions, subtitles and dubbing

The partnership also means that ASL can be used alongside the other accessibility services already available through SyncWords. A live program can have captions in the original language, subtitles in other languages, AI-generated dubbed audio and an ASL signer, depending on the needs of the audience.

This makes the technology useful across a wide range of programming, including news, sports, government meetings, universities, corporate events, houses of worship and streaming channels.

For broadcasters running around the clock, automated ASL can also provide coverage during the hours when an interpreter isn’t available.

Expanding access without changing the way live video is produced

Signapse’s Digital Signer is designed to make ASL more scalable for live content, while working alongside the people and accessibility services already used by broadcasters and producers.

The integration with SyncWords brings that capability into an established live streaming workflow, making it easier for organizations to consider ASL for programming that might otherwise go without it.

To see the Signapse Digital Signer working on a live stream, get in touch with the Signapse or SyncWords teams to arrange a demonstration.

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