Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 337
Visible does not mean linguistically accessible
Stokoe’s structural analysis shows why signed communication must be designed around the target sign language rather than managed as spoken-language content delivered through the hands
Premise
Accessibility decisions often collapse modality into language: if information is visible, the assumption is that the linguistic problem has been solved. William C. Stokoe’s Sign Language Structure broke that category error by analyzing American Sign Language as a structured linguistic system whose forms can be segmented, contrasted, and combined without first translating them into speech.
For executives, the implication is operational. Captions, signed interpretation, visual interfaces, and written text solve overlapping but different access problems. A signer receiving ASL is not receiving English through a different output device, and a communication system that ignores that distinction can be technically accessible while linguistically wrong.
What the model is: Sign Language Structure (Stokoe) in Knowledge →
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- FamilyModel
- CategoryAnalytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
- DomainMeaning & Clarity
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Analytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
Organizes dimensions, distinctions, types or questions so that a situation can be examined systematically. A framework supplies structure, a typology distinguishes forms, and a heuristic offers a usable way to orient judgment.
- KnowledgeSign Language Structure (Stokoe)