MOVING FROM ACCESSIBILITY TO USABILITY OF KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE
“I don't Ask Society to help deaf people, I Ask Society to give education to deaf people to enable them to help us. The deaf expérience CAN help us to improve the tools for everyboby."
Simon Houriez, Design educator & Founder/CEO
Various levels of abilities define people’s relationships to words, concepts and objects, and require specific strategies to make everybody equal in front of literacy and culture, which are key determinants to people’s well-being and social integration.
Signes de sens (SDS) leverages multimedia tools in partnership with educational institutions, museums and technology providers to build pathways to knowledge, while letting each learner grasp information complexity at their own speed, in their own way.
With a focus on abilities rather than disabilities, we use innovative combinations of pedagogy and technology to empower all people, especially people with hearing impairments, to learn to read and comprehend both words and objects.
Created in 2003 in France, SDS has built a strong track-record of innovation and successful partnerships with some of France’s leading institutions, including the Louvre and the Museum of Prime Arts in Paris, and has allowed thousands of French children to experience culture and access knowledge in spite of their hearing or learning impairments.