Signly, an app published in Microsoft Azure Marketplace, helps businesses go beyond compliance to truly foster inclusion of deaf people. Signly captures clients’ website content and has it swiftly translated by experts in sign language. If a signed version of a page is not already available, deaf users can request one.

Microsoft interviewed Kathryn Townsend, Head of Customer Accessibility at Nationwide Building Society, a large cooperative financial institution in England, to learn what she had to say about the product.

What do you like best about Signly?

In the United Kingdom, British Sign Language (BSL) is the first language for around 87,000 deaf people, a figure deaf experts estimate is very conservative. BSL is a distinct language with its own vocabulary and sentence structure. English is often not a second, or even a third language, for BSL users. This can mean written communications are often hard to understand, if not impossible. There is an ever-increasing reliance on digital solutions to manage our day-to-day lives, which requires reading English. For people who have BSL as their first language and who find written English hard to understand, managing personal finances can be almost impossible. 

Banking webpages are full of text, and for customers who struggle to read written English, this can present a barrier. This might lead to BSL users relying on friends and families to translate wording, which could undermine financial independence. At Nationwide, we understand that providing accessible banking is vital to ensure people maintain financial independence wherever possible. Our website holds key information customers need to either find product information or access support. We want to ensure that our services are as inclusive as possible, and making our webpages accessible to BSL users is a key part of that.

Signly translates web content into BSL, which enables deaf customers to easily and accessibly read in their first language. Users can be confident that website content is continually monitored so translations stay true to text. Signly will transform the banking experience for many people, providing a solution to enable access to our website and the ability to bank independently.

How has Signly helped your organization?

The implementation of this initiative has raised awareness for colleagues across Nationwide of the needs of BSL users, resulting in an enhanced user experience when accessing Nationwide’s products and services. The service has also raised the profile of Nationwide’s focus on accessibility among other financial firms, prompting discussions in industry working groups around available solutions.

How are customer service and support?

It’s been great to work with the Signly team. Teams from both organizations worked together to ensure the solution was suitable for our website. Signly was proactive and collaborative in overcoming any difficulties. Though a small team, they were efficient and quick in their response to queries. It felt like we were working toward a shared goal.

Any recommendations to other users considering this product?

Signly already partners with a number of organizations, so we could see the service in action and how it might benefit customers. We also discussed it with people with lived experience and deaf charities to gain an understanding of how this service would help them.

We have learned that when all stakeholders have a common goal and purpose, no problem is insurmountable. A great many people worked on this solution from both Nationwide and Signly; teamwork and strong communication were essential, especially when a new issue or problem came to the table. The willingness and collaboration on both sides meant we were able to overcome any challenges that were faced.

This is a great opportunity to bring colleagues in your business along on the accessibility and inclusion journey. It is a fantastic way of raising awareness of the deaf community and the difference tech solutions can make to the deaf community.

What is your overall rating for this product?

5 out of 5 stars.

Cloud marketplaces are transforming the way businesses find, try, and deploy applications to help their digital transformation. Learn more about Azure Marketplace and find ways to discover the right application for your cloud solution needs.

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