Teenage entrepreneur Mariella Satow tells us about SignUp, sign language interpretation for Disney+ TV shows and movies!

My name is Mariella Satow, I am 18 years old and I have British-American citizenship. I am hearing and have been studying American Sign Language (ASL) for two years.

My interest in sign language began when I was very little, in a supermarket on 3rd Avenue in Manhattan where I grew up. My mother sent me off to find something for her and I tried to ask a store employee for help. He pointed at a badge on his uniform that said, ‘I am Deaf’ and I realised we couldn’t communicate. That stayed with me and soon after I learnt to fingerspell the ASL alphabet from watching YouTube videos, so at least I would have some basic skills if this happened again.

When we all went into lockdown I was 16 and my exams were cancelled. I, like many people, decided to learn something new that I had never had time to do before. I signed up for online ASL classes with an inspiring teacher based in California and I am still studying.

When I started learning sign language I wanted to be able to practice by watching my favourite films and television programmes. I was also learning Spanish and my classmates and I improved by watching Spanish soap operas with subtitles on!

When I started my ASL lessons I thought I would do the same with sign language captions and discovered there were none offered on any of the streaming platforms! I did some polls with Facebook groups focused on ASL education and initially thought that I was going to create an education tool for sign language students.

What I discovered through these groups was that young Deaf children often can’t read subtitles, or read them fast enough and that many users might prefer to watch captions in their first language – sign language – rather than reading.

Since then I have founded SignUp and work with a dynamic remote team. We have a tech team based in Seattle, and a team of about 200 interpreters working throughout America, the UK, India and Australia.

SignUp UK is a free Google Chrome extension that provides a pop-up window with a sign language interpreter for films and TV shows for Disney+.

When I was developing SignUp I posted on Facebook groups asking if any interpreters would be interested in helping me. My budget was very small – I was 17 and just had money I had made dog walking! – so no one was very interested.

I persevered and then one interpreter – a modest school teacher in California who prefers not to be named – replied and said she would help me. Quite honestly, I am not sure if SignUp would have gotten off the ground at such a pace without her belief in the project and me! She started with ‘Moana.’

Inevitably, the tech at the beginning was a bit rudimentary – the extension crashed when it first launched as so many people downloaded it – a good problem to have! Being able to employ a tech team once I started to get funding from investors has allowed us to relaunch a much slicker product, expand to the UK and put SignUp India (ISL) and SignUp Australia (Auslan) in production.

I often receive messages from all over the world asking if individuals or groups can help launch SignUp in their country. We are building networks where we can – with over 300 sign languages worldwide we have a lot of work to do!

I was very fortunate how things got off the ground in the UK and very grateful to Dr Jenna Littlejohn at Deafness Support Network (DSN) in Cheshire who contacted me after reading about SignUp’s success in America. Dr Littlejohn and her team have been instrumental in finding our first BSL interpreters and screening them.

We are also now working with Chris McQueen at Involve Interpreter who offered to help and we are excited that their team will also be adding to the library of films that will be available on SignUp UK.

I have worked closely with the Deaf community in SignUp’s creation and it has been very interesting to see the project evolve in this way and respond to our users. In the US we launched an interpretation of ‘Enola Holmes’ on Netflix and that was one of our most popular launches as we realised that the tween and teen community were eager for more content.

As well as over 100 hours of film content, we have also had television series like ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Emily in Paris’ interpreted, and ultimately, we would love to be providing sign language captions for all programming. We plan to follow a similar path with BSL and hope the Deaf community in the UK will come along with us.

Many hearing people find it difficult to believe that closed captions are not enough or that sign language captions are not already available. Most share the disbelief that no one has created something like SignUp before and question why streaming platforms and national governments are not providing the service themselves – all good questions that need answers!

When employing interpreters, we often find that interpreters ask to interpret particular films and this works very well as they likely know the film and have a connection to it which informs their interpretation.

We ask each interpreter to do a short screen test for us so we can also assess what might suit them and we strive to be as representative as possible. We partnered with ProbonoASL in the US who have helped us with representation and we aim to do the same with SignUp UK.

Some interpreters are specifically trained which adds another dimension to their interpreting. We have a medical interpreter who is going to interpret medical shows, a chef who interpreted ‘Ratatouille’ for us and we are interested in working with some vernacular artists for films and TV shows without words.

We have started with BSL captions for Ciao Alberto and Toy Story on Disney+. BSL interpretations for the following films are in production and about to be loaded on the extension: Turning Red, The Princess and the Frog, Encanto, The Little Mermaid, and Monsters Inc. We will continue to load new content and are keen to hear from SignUp UK users with their requests too.
In the US we also provide an extension for Netflix and this is the plan for the UK also, along with other streaming platforms as we develop them.

The response from the deaf community has been overwhelming. When I launched with ASL captions for Disney+ in August 2020, I woke up the next day and there had been 17,000 hits on my website overnight.

I have also heard from a lot of families and how much they enjoy using SignUp and this is very rewarding.

As well as a very positive reception from the Deaf community, I have had a lot of social media coverage, appeared three times in ‘The Times,’ appeared on the BBC, Times Radio, Variety magazine, and so on. We have partnered with the American Society for Deaf Children and hope to form similar relationships with Deaf organisations in the UK.

I am in the UK at the moment promoting SignUp UK and have already had lovely invitations to visit Heathlands School for the Deaf in St Albans and Oak Lodge School in Wandsworth. I am so looking forward to meeting the pupils and staff there. I love to see people interacting with SignUp and hearing what films they would like to see next!

Going forwards, as well as launches in India and Australia, we are looking to develop in more countries,  on more platforms, and also different devices, such as iPads and smartphones.

I hope that the Deaf community in the UK enjoys using SignUp UK and spreads the word. The more users and supporters we have the more likely we are to get investors and the streaming platforms to buy in. The more funds we will then have to commission content and provide employment within the Deaf community. So, if you like SignUp UK, please share it!

SignUp are looking for BSL interpreters so if you are interested please contact: signupcaptions@gmail.com

Website: signupcaptions.com
Instagram: @signupcaptions https://www.instagram.com/signupcaptions/

Facebook: @signupcaptions https://www.facebook.com/signupcaptions/

Here is the how-to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZtfR3wEZ74&t=6s

 Link to  download Extension:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signup-sign-language-for/gbllbjbhbafgdcolenjhdoabdjjbj

Photography credit: Saland Photography