The Insign project was demonstrated for first time on 9 April 2014 at an event in the European Parliament. Deaf sign language users and hard of hearing citizens during two live demonstrations contacted different Members of the European Parliament with the innovative Insign platform

The European Commission awarded in 2013, though a public procurement procedure, a twelve-month pilot project grant to a consortium led by the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) for improving the communication between deaf and hard of hearing persons and the EU institutions.

The objective of the Pilot Project was to improve that communication through a technological platform and related applications to be developed during 2014. The concept of the platform has been demonstrated and tested in public at a conference taking place before the European Parliament elections 2014.

The project included a pilot service to connect deaf and hard of hearing people to sign language interpreters in member states and captioners during their interaction with the EU institutions and vice versa. The project, called INSIGN, was carried out jointly by the European Union of the Deaf, Designit, IVéS, SignVideo, Heriot-Watt University and the European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters.

The results of the Pilot Projects could also serve as an example on how the communication between the deaf and other public bodies in the EU could be improved. 

Background

Since 22 January 2011 the EU is a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("CRPD") and is bound by it to the extent of its competences. It is the first time in its history that the EU, along with its Member States, has concluded an international human rights treaty. At the EU level, by February 2013, all 27 Member States had signed the Convention, and 24 have ratified it, and the other 3 are in the process of doing so. 22 Member States have signed the Protocol and 19 have ratified it.

The Convention marks a paradigm shift in the approach to disability from a medical/charity model to a human rights/social model and it requires States Parties to protect and safeguard all human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities. The scope of the Convention is broad and covers a full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. For the EU, this means ensuring that EU policies, legislative acts and programmes comply with the CRPD provisions. The obligations of the Convention also apply to the EU institutions as a public administration in their dealings with the public as well as in personnel matters.

Article 21 of the Convention (access to information) obliges States Parties to take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others, by ''accepting and facilitating the use of sign languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice by persons with disabilities in official interactions''.

Article 9 (accessibility), article 24 (education) and article 30 (Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport) also contain obligations in relation to the use of sign language by deaf persons. The multiannual European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (the Strategy) was adopted by the Commission on 15 November 2010