Development of a Diabetes Education Video Series in American Sign Language for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Populations

Objective The purpose of the study was to describe the collaborative process of a deaf-hearing research team developing diabetes education videos in American Sign Language (ASL) for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) populations.Methods Diabetes education videos were guided by a DHH community advisory board (CAB) who were living with diabetes (N = 10), DHH video production team (N = 9), DHH research team members (N = 3), hearing clinical experts and research team members (N = 3), and a hearing designer (N = 1). Over 10 meetings, the CAB provided ongoing feedback to enhance video content and design. Videos were then developed using a rigorous 5-step process that involved script development, design of visual supports, script translation into ASL by native signers, video recording, and video editing. Interviews with individual CAB members were obtained to understand future video needs.Results Using a design thinking and collaborative approach between deaf-hearing team members, 20 diabetes education videos were designed to prioritize ASL and DHH culture while still being inclusive for hearing family members who may not know ASL. The videos met the WebAIM guidelines for accessibility. CAB members rated the videos positively.Conclusions The diabetes education videos in ASL fill an existing void in diabetes education for DHH populations and are still being evaluated in the Deaf Diabetes Can Together intervention and will be placed on a future diabetes education website in ASL. This article highlights key details of developing diabetes education videos using a deaf-hearing team that future studies could learn from.