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Infographic – Between Disability and Culture: The Search for a Taxonomy of Sign Languages in the European Union – Text Description
Infographic designed by Norbert Croonenberg Accessibility Design. Ideas and text by Prof. Delia Ferri, Principal Investigator of DANCING.

Infographic: Between Disability and Culture: The Search for a Taxonomy of Sign Languages in the European Union – Text Description

The infographic uses blues, white, and turquoise with accents of yellow, consistent with the earlier infographics. The mood of the design is playful and non-intimidating. There is the DANCING project logo in the top left-hand corner, and an acknowledgement to the European Research Council (ERC), the funding body, in the bottom right-hand corner. Text is shown in boxes and lozenges with arrows in between to suggest a flow of information. The text runs as follows:


Dancing Between Disability and Culture: The Search for a Legal Taxonomy of Sign Languages in the European Union by D. Ferri, I. Tekuchova, E. Krolla


Starting Point: Sign languages are considered key to Deaf culture and identity.

  • Deaf people and native sign language users often identify as cultural and linguistic minorities.
  • The protection of sign languages sits at the intersection of linguistic and disability rights.


Research Aim: A new classification (taxonomy) of the approach to the legal recognition of sign languages in the 27 Member States of the EU.


Methods and Legal Frameworks: We conducted comparative legal research by examining laws recognising, protecting, and promoting sign languages in the 27 Member States of the EU.


Findings: Sign languages are recognised at different levels and by different types of laws in the Member States of the EU. We identified three different approaches to the protection and promotion of sign languages:

  • Approach I: Linguistic minority
  • Approach II: Cultural-linguistic
  • Approach III: Disability rights


The text concludes with an acknowledgement to the funder: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement no. 864182).

Infographic: Between Disability and Culture: The Search for a Taxonomy of Sign Languages in the European Union – Audio Description

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