As a result of the project, a complete video translation of the Constitution of Ukraine into Ukrainian Sign Language was created, organized by sections and articles.
Information of the highest legal authority must be accessible to everyone; therefore, this project aims to facilitate the transition from formal accessibility to an understanding of its actual content by the sign language community. In other words, a person with a hearing disability should not only be aware of the constitution that governs a society based on the rule of law, but also understand the rights, freedoms, responsibilities, and principles of state governance enshrined therein.
A video translation of the Constitution of Ukraine into sign language is available on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The page was designed for people with hearing impairments for whom sign language is the primary means of communication.
Comprehensive work was carried out during the implementation of the project:
- An expert group has been formed.
Ukrainian sign language interpreters, lawyers, and experts in sign language were involved in the project. This approach ensured both the legal accuracy and linguistic naturalness of the translation. - A multi-stage discussion process was conducted to produce a professional translation.
The team worked on legal terminology and complex legal concepts, and found clear and accurate ways to convey them using Ukrainian Sign Language. - Conditions have been created to build trust among a broad sign language audience.
To ensure clarity, translators from various regions of Ukraine who are fluent in different dialects of USL were enlisted to work on the translation. The project participants work in television, educational institutions, civic organizations, government agencies, and other fields, which has contributed to the project’s widespread reach.. - A series of videos featuring sign language interpretation has been produced.
After painstaking editing and assembly of the recorded videos, the final result is a structured video file containing an adapted sign language translation of the Constitution of Ukraine — preserving the content in accordance with its chapters and articles. This format makes it easy to find the relevant provision or a specific part of the document. Full content consists of Preamble, 15 chapters and 161 articles. - The extensive public awareness campaign that was conducted.
The NGO "Public Movement "Social Unity" conducted an advertising campaign to promote the project through its own channels. The Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine disseminated information about the project through committees, local communities, the media, and other channels. An information campaign was also conducted in cooperation with Ukrzaliznytsia, the Kyiv Metro, and leading media outlets broadcasting as part of the National Unified News Telethon. Short clips featuring excerpts from articles were aired as public service announcements in Intercity train cars, on the metro, and at Kyiv Metro stations. - The Path to the Development of Legal Vocabulary at USL Has Been Paved.The project materials were distributed online so that people with hearing impairments, educational institutions, civic and human rights organizations, sign language interpreters, and other interested users could make use of the translations.
The NGO "Public Movement "Social Unity", in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, initiated the creation of an accessible version of Ukraine’s Constitution; financial support for the project was provided by the organization’s long-standing partner, the PostCode Ukraine Charitable Foundation.
