High quality language data is the foundation of systems that recognize, generate, and translate human language. Technologies for sign languages have lagged behind those for spoken and written language, in large part because sign languages have historically been difficult to label due to the visual nature of the medium and lack of conventional written systems. Even the most well-documented sign languages are considered "low-resource" languages, and in these cases, data quality

Most sign-recognition tools learn by watching thousands of example videos. But labeled ASL video is scarce. A team tried something different: give the computer a map of how signs are actually built, the way a linguist understands them. It worked.

Sign language tech needs real signing videos, and gathering them is slow work. What if collecting data could be a game? Researchers built a signing version of Battleship to find out.

Signs are made of building blocks, the way spoken words are made of sounds. This study asked how best to teach a computer to spot those blocks. The answer was surprisingly human: start with the easy ones, then build up.

Most deaf children in the U.S. learn through a sign language interpreter in a mainstream classroom. A Deaf Center paper argues that an interpreter can give a child access, but it can't give a child language — and that difference matters.

How common is a sign? How is it built? Does it look like what it means? ASL-LEX answers those questions for thousands of ASL signs, in one free, searchable place. It started with about 1,000 signs and grew to 2,723, and it has quietly become a foundation for sign language research and technology.

A new paper in Pediatric Annals lays out what good care looks like for deaf and hard of hearing kids: put full language access first, connect families to early intervention and deaf mentors, and learn from deaf people and families. Sign language is a complete language, not a backup, and it does not hold back spoken language.

On April 16-17, 2026, the Deaf Center hosted the first SLxAI Summit at Boston University. 220 people from 50+ organizations and 14 countries came together around sign language and AI, with Deaf leadership at the center and ethics leading the way.