Gwanak-gu, Sign Language Simultaneous Interpretation Informatization Education

Online Sign Language Simultaneous Interpretation Informatization Education Available for Hearing Impaired... Access via YouTube 'Gwanak-gu Hearing Impaired Informatization Education' or Popup Link on District Website

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is conducting online non-face-to-face sign language simultaneous interpretation informatization education for the hearing impaired in line with the government's policy to bridge the digital information gap.

As the COVID-19 pandemic prolongs, accelerating the digital transformation centered on unmanned and non-face-to-face services, concerns are growing that digital non-users may be excluded from society beyond mere daily inconveniences.

In particular, the information gap for people with disabilities, for whom the use of digital devices is essential to assist daily life, has emerged as a serious socio-economic issue.

To address these problems, Gwanak-gu, after conducting the nation's first online non-face-to-face informatization education via YouTube following the COVID-19 outbreak, is now promoting online informatization education with sign language simultaneous interpretation for the hearing impaired.

The district has added the ‘Gwanak-gu Informatization Sign Language Education’ channel to the four informatization education channels currently operated on YouTube.

Rather than simply providing content through lecture subtitles, considering the preferences of the hearing impaired who are accustomed to real-time communication and sign language interpretation, a real-time simultaneous interpretation course has been opened. This provides an opportunity for the hearing impaired to participate in informatization education under the same conditions as non-disabled individuals.

This course, conducted by a sign language interpreter in real-time simultaneous interpretation, will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM starting on the 4th, streamed live on YouTube, and is free for all citizens including non-disabled people. It can be accessed by searching ‘Gwanak-gu Hearing Impaired Informatization Education’ on YouTube or through the popup zone link on the Gwanak-gu Office website.

After a pilot operation of the online sign language interpretation course until December this year, it will be incorporated into the regular curriculum from 2021, applying sign language simultaneous interpretation services to all online informatization education.

In particular, the district plans to build a ‘Digital Competency Center’ where anyone can conveniently acquire necessary information skills for daily life and receive employment-linked education near their homes through the ‘National Digital Competency Enhancement Education’ promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency by pooling local capabilities.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “We expect that online sign language interpretation informatization education will contribute to eliminating information access discrimination for people with disabilities and strengthening digital information capabilities,” adding, “We will continue efforts to bridge the digital gap for people with disabilities so that the quality of life for residents can be further improved.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.