Date of Award
5-16-2025
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Anita Harding
Second Advisor
Pamela Decker-Wright
Third Advisor
Jennifer L. Nelson
Abstract
Access to literature in a person’s most accessible language is a human right. One that has been deprived from many members of the Deaf community, despite the growth of translated literature in other languages. Translators have yet to tackle the business of creating accessible American Sign Language (ASL) translations for older audiences, specifically for young adults. After the critical period of language development, less resources are tendered for older Deaf students. This project aimed to spread awareness of this need to several different people groups and emphasize the complexity of translating an English text into ASL. It did this by comparing the efforts of two translators from different demographics and interviewing them about their translation process. They translated a section from “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, chosen as it is a story often required for high school students and contains an important tale of oppression and lack of power that relates to the Deaf experience. These translators used Nida’s techniques for adjustment (1964a and 1964b) and Lawrence’s expansion techniques (2007) to ensure dynamic equivalence between the cultures and modalities of English and ASL. The analysis of their translations discovered complexities in the process of operating between languages and appropriately representing the narrator's struggles visually. This project aims to scratch the surface of research on visually accessible literature and invite more people to join this effort for accessibility.
Recommended Citation
Bates, Kailee, "Creating Accessible Literature for Deaf Young Adults" (2025). Undergraduate University Honors Capstones. 120.
https://ida.gallaudet.edu/honors_capstones/120
