White paper 2016

Sign Language in Finland

As a result of the advocacy work of the Finnish Association of the Deaf, sign language was recognized as part of Finland's Constitution in 1995⁶⁵. In 2015 the Finnish Parliament voted in a “Sign Language Act” protecting the rights of sign language and sign language users and clarifying their status as a language and cultural group⁶⁶.

Library Act

Finland has a population of about 5.5 million and over a thousand libraries, including both general municipal libraries as well as scientific and specialized libraries. The Library Act of Finland guarantees all citizens equal opportunities to develop civic skills, knowledge on different languages and cultures and lifelong learning. The principal objective of the Sign Language eLibrary is to support the implementation of this law in relation to the deaf population who require that materials be available in Finnish sign language.

Before the Sign Language eLibrary came into existence, sign language materials were scarce in libraries. The FAD initially pitched the project to the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2007, and in 2013 funds from the state budget were allocated to setting up the library as part of their remit to promote accessibility to arts and culture in every possible way. During the startup phase (2013-2015), this amounted to 250 000 € per year, with a further 220 000 € per year thereafter to cover maintenance and production costs and a permanent staff of two.

Objectives

The goal of the Sign Language eLibrary is to collect, produce, store and distribute materials in sign language and thus contribute to the preservation of deaf culture. The choice of materials takes the requirements set by the Library Act into account, for example the need for resources related to the development of civic skills.

Because a large part of the material has subtitles or voice-over, the library is an invaluable resource for studies in sign language and deaf culture and gives non-sign language users an opportunity to explore signed materials.

User interface

The library interface was designed to be user friendly and require minimal knowledge of any written language so that it is accessible to children who cannot read and to immigrants and foreigners who are not conversant with Finland's official languages (Finnish or Swedish). User interfaces in sign language are not yet technically possible to build, but progress is being made in this domain. The library pages are both responsive and scalable and as such built to work on all devices.

Cooperation

The Sign Language eLibrary has been warmly embraced and fully integrated into Finland's library network and many public library websites link to its catalogue. A cross-institution portal called the Finna-network⁶⁷ is currently under construction as part of a government project. Through this network, anyone will be able to access materials from all of Finland's libraries, archives and museums. The network is in discussion with the Sign Language eLibrary to join the project.

Public services and library services in Finland are increasingly available online. The Sign Language eLibrary is something of a pioneer in presenting not only the catalogue but the entire content of the library online for use without the need for membership or login.

The FAD and the Sign Language e-Library staff were invited to join a working group preparing accessibility guidelines for all Finnish libraries and were able to ensure that library users were well represented in these recommendations. The library has also produced video brochures in sign language about its own services and those of general library services that are available free of charge to all library visitors in Finland.

The future

A specific task of the Sign Language eLibrary is to collect, publish and maintain the cultural and linguistic heritage of sign language and to ensure that it is preserved for future generations. In the startup phase of the project, efforts were focused on the production of original material in sign language. Future plans include translating Finnish literature that, aside from a few experiments, is rarely available in sign language.

The library strives to offer interesting and useful materials to its users. In addition to the subject areas outlined in the Library Law, it considers the wishes and needs expressed by library users when deciding which content to produce. In shaping its catalogue in this way, the library lays down the foundations for a wide and solid cooperation network involving different stakeholders. The Finnish Broadcasting Company has been closely involved in the production of children's programs and it hoped that they will continue to collaborate with the Library to produce programs for young people. For adults, in addition to civic and lifelong learning content, material for entertainment purposes will be developed. Meanwhile, the catalogue of content uploaded by deaf program makers will continue to grow as they are encouraged to contribute material via a secure publishing channel.

The future of the Sign Language eLibrary, like all libraries in Finland, is dependent on state funding. In order to safeguard funding, it is important to keep in regular contact with both Parliament and the Ministry of Education and Culture and report back on the activities and achievements of the library.

Conclusion

The Library Law means that libraries have a statutory duty to make library materials accessible to all Finnish citizens. The passing of the Sign Language Act in 2015 has further strengthened the position of sign language and its users in Finnish legislation.

There are approximately 4 000 deaf persons living in Finland. In its first year of existence, the Sign Language eLibrary was visited by around 26 000 different users, and videos from the catalogue were viewed 143 000 times. The Sign Language eLibrary has attracted attention from the library sector both in Finland and abroad. In May 2015, the library was awarded a Jodi Award⁶⁸ for promoting access to cultural collections for disabled persons. The Finnish Association hopes to build on these achievements in the years to come.