Abstract

This paper presents a cross-platform mobile application called SiLAc (Sign Language Accessibility), which incorporates gamified interactive activities. The application promotes sign language learning through tutorials, quizzes, and online games. A combination of well-established design/usability principles, gamification techniques, and social considerations, are employed, attempting to transform sign language teaching into an engaging, enjoyable, and productive experience regardless of the learner’s pre-disposition and experience in sign language. The paper presents results obtained from a requirements gathering questionnaire which help establish potential features, and illustrates how various features of the app help learners improve their American Sign Language skills. SiLac is evaluated through the USE questionnaire, a heuristic evaluation, and using feedback provided by experts. The results obtained indicate strong user acceptance with positive responses across multiple aspects such as usefulness, ease of use, learnability, satisfaction, and compliance with Nielsen’s heuristics. These findings suggest that SiLAc is a useful tool to provide the foundations needed for user-driven mobile learning. Furthermore, it paves the way to address remaining research gaps at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, Social Awareness, and the development of interactive Mobile Learning experiences, along with the development of new adaptive learning mechanisms.