Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals are excluded from most real-time digital communication because spoken and written language is not natively accessible to sign language users.

While captions convert speech to text, they do not translate meaning into sign language, which has:

Its own grammar (not word-for-word English)

Spatial and temporal structure

Non-manual cues (motion, emphasis, direction)

As a result, millions of sign-first users must cognitively translate text into signs themselves, leading to:

Slower comprehension

Higher cognitive load

Loss of nuance and intent

Reduced participation in education, healthcare, and digital platforms