Voting is a right, but it only means something if voters can actually access the information they need to make informed choices. For Deaf citizens across Europe, that access has historically been far from guaranteed, which is exactly the gap the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) set out to close ahead of the 2024 European elections.
A Continent-Wide Accessibility Project
EUD partnered with the European Parliament on a project called Accessible Democratic Participation for All: European Elections for the Deaf (ADPA-EED). The goal was straightforward but ambitious: ensure Deaf citizens across the EU had equal access to information about the 2024 European elections, delivered through International Sign so it could reach Deaf voters regardless of which national sign language they used at home.
The scale of the effort matched the scale of the need. The project aimed to empower approximately one million Deaf Europeans to participate more fully in the EU’s democratic process, providing election-related information in a format actually built for accessibility rather than translated as an afterthought.
Part of a Larger Pattern of Advocacy
The ADPA-EED project didn’t happen in isolation. EUD has spent years working alongside the European Disability Forum and the European Parliament’s PETI Committee to push for policies that recognize Deaf citizens’ right to participate in EU processes using sign language, including advocacy that has allowed Deaf people to submit petitions to the European Parliament in their national sign language.
Why International Sign Was the Right Tool
With 31 member national associations and dozens of different national sign languages represented across EU countries, no single national sign language could have reached the full scope of Deaf voters this project aimed to serve. International Sign filled that gap, acting as the shared bridge language that let one accessibility initiative serve Deaf citizens across an entire continent at once.
The Bigger Picture
Projects like ADPA-EED are a reminder that accessibility and democratic participation go hand in hand. When Deaf citizens can access election information directly, in a language built for cross-border Deaf communication, they’re not just informed. They’re genuinely included in the democratic process, the same way any other citizen is.
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