In order to gather data from the signing deaf community, efforts have been made to create online surveys in American Sign Language (ASL), despite a lack of user studies and UX/UI design guidelines informing the development of online survey tools featuring ASL. In this paper, we present SL-Surveys, an ASL-centric survey tool prototype showcasing a set of potential designs for multiple-choice, scalar, and multi-select questions. SL-Surveys was developed in an iterative process expressly for an exploratory think-aloud study investigating user experiences and perceptions of the designs. This preliminary study was conducted with seven deaf ASL-signing participants using a computer. The new design process, prototypes, user study and results make important strides towards a future where designs are not constrained by existing standards and practices based on written languages.

Questionnaires are fundamental learning and research tools for gathering insights and information from individuals, and now can be created easily using online tools. However, existing resources for creating questionnaires are designed for written languages (e.g. English) and do not support sign languages (e.g. American Sign Language). Sign languages (SLs) have unique visual characteristics that do not fit into user interface paradigms designed for written, text-based languages. Through a series of formative studies with the ASL signing community, this paper takes steps towards understanding the viability, potential benefit, challenges, and user interest in SL-centric surveys, a novel approach for creating questionnaires that meet the needs of deaf individuals using sign languages, without obligatory reliance on a written language to complete a questionnaire.

Conducting human-centered research by, with, and for the ASL-signing Deaf community, requires rethinking current human-computer interaction processes in order to meet their linguistic and cultural needs and expectations. This paper highlights some key considerations that emerged in our work creating an ASL-based questionnaire, and our recommendations for handling them.