In-Depth: Our Partner ATILS

 The Search

As we started our investigation phase and after choosing the problematic we would be working on, which is, as mentioned in our previous article, the communication difficulties that deaf people encounter in Tunisian society, we figured that it is extremely necessary that we find an expert in the domain not just to consult but also to partner up with in order to let the project grow bigger and find its true purpose. As we went through different associations and experts' searches, one managed to stand out as it were specifically the exact domain we were looking for; Tunisian Sign Language Interpreters Association, going by the name of ATILS.

Establishing the First Contact

After identifying our potential partner, we immediately contacted ATILS president, Mr. Houssem Aloui, fortunately he replied to our request pretty fast and agreed to set a meet with us. During our online encounter with Mr. Aloui, the president of the ATILS association, we managed to get an in-depth definition of the problematic we are working on. He stated that it is a widely overlooked issue in Tunisia, barely recognized by the government, which makes it even more crucial to tackle. He also gave us various data sources from which we might be able to collect the required data as well as potential contacts that would greatly help us during the investigation phase. Not to mention that we also agreed to set a meet in real life by the start of November with ATILS during which we will have the opportunity to collect data (through recording sign language interpreters) and test different mechanics that would be applied in our solution.

November Follow-Up

As we continued our research and data studying, we figured that our project should start from a certain specific domain in order for us to create and although niche yet pretty accurate model. We figured that we should work on the feasibility of the model then move on to its scalability and diversity. We started with medical words and worked on interpreting them, in order to do so, we consulted a medical expert that helped us identify the most common technical medical sentences a patient might say. This will eventually help deaf people to communicate better at public and private healthcare centers and give the opportunity to find relief and quick response during matters of urgency. 

ATILS Facebook Page: Association tunisienne des interpretes en langue des signes - ATILS | Facebook