From Recognition to Access: A New Chapter in Sign Language Subtitles
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
When we launched GoSign App V2.0 last September with games, creative AI tools, and hands-on interaction, we showed that sign language recognition (SLR) is no longer theoretical. It’s something you can play with, learn from, and actively shape. That launch marked a milestone for GoSign.AI and for Deaf-centered AI more broadly.
But recognition alone isn’t the destination.
Recognition only matters if it leads to access.
Today, we’re excited to share the next chapter of that journey.
Building on an Existing Partnership — Going Deeper
In September, we also announced a partnership with Sign-Speak, bringing their latest sign language recognition models into the GoSign app’s AI tools. That work was about exploration, testing how multiple SLR models could coexist, be experienced by real users, and improve through real-world interaction.
Over the months that followed, one thing became increasingly clear:
The biggest opportunity wasn’t just recognition inside an app. It was what recognition could unlock outside of it.
That realization led us here.
A New Focus: Sign Language → Captions
Over the past several weeks, GoSign.AI and Sign-Speak have been working closely on a new, shared product direction focused specifically on sign language to captions.
This is important to clarify:
This work is not an extension of the GoSign mobile app. It’s a separate platform, built for a different purpose.
Where the GoSign app focuses on learning, play, creativity, and community-driven data collection, this new work focuses on practical, everyday access:
Turning signed video into readable captions
Supporting classrooms, meetings, and recorded content
Designing workflows around real Deaf users and real use cases
If recognition answers “What is being signed?
Subtitles answer “Who gains access because of it?”
Why Subtitles Matter
Captions sit at the intersection of communication, education, and participation.
Imagine:
A Deaf teacher signing in a classroom, with captions appearing alongside
A signed video shared online, accessible to hearing viewers without requiring interpretation
Teams meeting remotely, where signing is captured and understood across participants
These aren’t edge cases. They’re everyday moments where access is still inconsistent or unavailable.
That gap is what we’re working to close.
Pausing the Old, Building the New
As part of this shift, we paused signups to our earlier subtitle product so we could bring our subtitle work together into a stronger, shared platform.
This new platform is designed from the ground up to support:
Faster and more accurate sign-to-caption workflows
A cleaner, more intuitive user experience
Expansion into more sign languages worldwide, not just ASL
It’s simple by design, a reflection of how we want to build this next chapter: openly, visibly, and together with the community.
The new platform will be released soon. And this is just the start.
Same Values, New Space
While this work moves into a new product space, our values remain unchanged.
GoSign continues to believe in:
Ethical, consent-based data practices
Deaf-led product direction
Collaboration over closed systems
This subtitle work exists because of those principles, not in spite of them. It builds on years of community contribution, shared learning, and partnerships rooted in trust.
Different product. Same philosophy.
From Recognition to Access
The September launch showed what sign language recognition can be.
This next step shows what it’s for.
Recognition → Access
Technology → Participation
Models → People
We’re excited to share more when the new subtitle platform goes live and to continue building in public, together.
Follow along. Watch closely. Ask questions. This is only the beginning.
