Deaf access for Deaf people: the translation of the television news from English into British Sign Language
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This paper explores the notion of a Deaf translation norm and its use in the rendering of English mainstream television broadcast news into British Sign Language (BSL). The Deaf translation norm incorporates the community identity and fluency of the translator/interpreter (T/I). Historically, this is a role that Deaf bilinguals have undertaken and, in part, involves the higher level of agency that the T/I exerts within the situation. In present day, this differs from a historic role now that the translation event happens in the public sphere rather than within the community. To ensure that the Deaf audience has an optimally relevant BSL text to watch and understand, the Deaf translation norm incorporates enrichments and impoverishments into the BSL text according to the audience’s understanding of the English text and the video footage that is shown simultaneously on-screen. This creates a BSL text that utilizes the multimedia environment to reduce the cognitive effort of the Deaf audience.