<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/84481b74-30a0-4e90-bc3f-e87a0ede22cf/a92bb1a0-9193-436c-b3b9-99ebb668b31e/icon-tldr.svg" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/84481b74-30a0-4e90-bc3f-e87a0ede22cf/a92bb1a0-9193-436c-b3b9-99ebb668b31e/icon-tldr.svg" width="40px" /> The primary Bible app for the deaf community needed a usability refresh
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Deaf Bible Society is a non-profit organization that provides free access to Bible translations by video in 25+ sign languages. One of the primary ways they deliver these translations is through their mobile app. Being the primary Bible resource for the Deaf community, the app was already highly rated and loved by users.
However, the navigation needed a usability refresh and the team was ready to implement new, robust features.
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/84481b74-30a0-4e90-bc3f-e87a0ede22cf/a92bb1a0-9193-436c-b3b9-99ebb668b31e/icon-tldr.svg" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/84481b74-30a0-4e90-bc3f-e87a0ede22cf/a92bb1a0-9193-436c-b3b9-99ebb668b31e/icon-tldr.svg" width="40px" /> Accessibility needed to be top of mind for a global, deaf user base
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Accessibility
Being that the sole audience for this application is the Deaf community, the accessibility needed to remain top of mind throughout the design process. For many deaf individuals, sign language is their first language, and written English (or another language) is learned as a second language, if at all. For this reason, we needed to avoid relying on text for navigation and description as much as possible. When text was used, we made sure a self-explanatory image or icon was accompanying the text.
Global Audience
The mission of the Deaf Bible Society is to provide sign language translation of the Bible worldwide, meaning that users of the app will originate from all over the world. Any text in the app would need to be translated for each region, and any accompanying sign language videos would need to be translated and recorded for each region's sign language (and in some cases, regions may have multiple sign languages). Considering the time and resources this would require of the non-profit, we needed to avoid unnecessary text and video descriptions.
