International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development

Sign language is the main way many deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals communicate their emotions, thoughts and news to each other. While acoustically transmitted languages use sound, sign language uses your hands, your body and your face to communicate. Indian Sign Language (ISL) is the main way the deaf community in India communicates. Deaf people need sign language to help develop their mental, internal and verbal abilities. Children with hearing loss benefit from being taught both in sign language and in written and spoken language. Sign language users in the United States speak ASL, those in the United Kingdom speak BSL and the ISL is used in India. This paper explores how important sign language is, with particular attention to the manual (single-handed and double-handed) and non-manual (facial gestures and body movement) forms used in ISL. A website is currently under development to translate English content into Indian Sign Language.