UCT launches sign language-accessible website for national benchmark testing

Supplied photo: Sign language interpreter Michelle de Bruyn doing the interpreting as Professor Salome Maswime speaks during a recent event.

After realising that the NBT website had almost nothing accessible to deaf users who use SASL, De Bruyn approached the Centre for Educational Assessments (CEA), which manages the NBTs, with a proposal to translate essential content into SASL. The timing was right as the website upgrade was already underway. She worked with colleagues across UCT, including the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching’s One Button Studio team, to produce the videos.

“We first identified standard introductory information that wouldn’t change for at least three to five years. Then I began interpreting those pages, recorded the content, checked it for accuracy, and worked with One Button Studio to film and produce the final product. All without any cost to the university, thanks to their willingness to support this pilot,” she said.

De Bruyn and CEA administrator Lynia Norman devised a workaround when delays affected the website upgrade: upload the SASL videos to the NBTs’ YouTube channel and link them directly on the site. This simple solution now gives Deaf users direct access to admissions content in their primary language.

“This is the first time a tertiary institution in South Africa has made a website fully accessible in SASL,” De Bruyn noted. “It’s a massive milestone, and we hope to flagship this approach across UCT and eventually the sector.”

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Completed NBT test with SASL support

The project also led to another first: a deaf prospective student recently completed the NBT using the support of a SASL interpreter, a national first in benchmark testing.

In partnership with UCT Libraries, De Bruyn and the Disability Service have also created SASL-interpreted informational videos about the NBT process. One such video is a tour of the Oppenheimer Library, available in SASL, English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, making it the first of its kind in the country.

Looking ahead, De Bruyn and her team are working to make the complete OIC website accessible in SASL by year-end. The admissions website will follow. “We’re making strides. We don’t want SASL inclusion to be the exception. We want it to become the norm.”

For De Bruyn, inclusion is not just about digital access; it’s about shifting institutional culture. In collaboration with the Cape Town Deaf Community, UCT has begun SASL training for frontline staff in libraries, residences, traffic services and visitor centres, equipping staff with basic communication tools and greater awareness of Deaf culture.

“This is a holistic effort,” she said. “We’re identifying gaps and working to build a more inclusive, deaf-friendly UCT – one department at a time.”