From voice to sign: together with our partner Signapse, we have made the shortlist for the IABM Impact Awards 2026 in the Transformational Project category. Winners will be announced on 20 April at NAB Show in Las Vegas.
Accessibility in streaming: a real need, a real solution
Millions of people around the world use sign language as their primary means of communication. Streaming has yet to catch up. Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences are consistently underserved by both live and on-demand content, and the reasons are structural: human interpreters face real limits in terms of time, availability and budget. Subtitles are not a real alternative either. They cannot replicate the emotional depth and dynamic quality of a visual language, and they also presuppose strong reading proficiency. Our partnership with Signapse addresses exactly this gap.
How does AI-powered sign language work in a live stream?
Signapse's photorealistic Digital Signer translates spoken content into sign language. The AI model was developed in close collaboration with the British Deaf community, with deaf sign language users involved at every stage to ensure linguistic accuracy, cultural integrity and authentic representation. Already deployed by major organisations including National Rail UK, the technology has recently expanded from British Sign Language (BSL) to include American Sign Language (ASL).
This autumn, G&L is bringing the Digital Signer to Deutsche Gebärdensprache (DGS), together with Signapse. G&L takes on the full integration layer, extracting a high-quality transcript from the source, such as a live stream, that goes beyond standard ASR: stress, intonation, pace and pause structure are all captured and encoded. This prosody-aware transcription not only enables high-quality subtitles, but also gives the Digital Signer the richest possible foundation to work from. The finished sign language video is embedded into the original content and delivered as a combined output, with no disruption to existing workflows.
AI with purpose: sign language for everyone
Making the shortlist is a clear signal that AI, when applied with purpose, can make a genuine difference. The Digital Signer has a wide range of applications: from parliamentary streams and news formats to corporate communications and live events. Sign language should not remain the exception in digital communication. For broadcasters, public institutions and education providers, that means not just better compliance, but broader reach and greater impact. We look forward to building on this together with Signapse.