Recomendações para o desenvolvimento de sistemas para pessoas surdas

Abstract

This work addresses the challenge of developing effective and inclusive computational systems for the Deaf community, which is often underrepresented in design processes. The research investigates how to actively integrate Deaf individuals into the system lifecycle, respecting their communicational and cultural specificities, through Participatory Design (PD). The main objective was to propose, apply, and evaluate a set of recommendations – called the "Guia da Lilla"– to support development teams in designing systems that are accessible and user-centered for Deaf users. The adopted methodology included a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to map challenges, methods, practices, and requirements; an analysis of the practical experience of the startup Bilíngua; the iterative development of the Guia da Lilla in both textual and interactive digital formats; and its evaluation in two stages: an investigative analysis with experts and an exploratory study applying the Guide in the real development of a governmental management platform, involving Deaf and hearing participants in PD sessions and interviews. The results identified crucial challenges in applying PD with the Deaf community, such as communication barriers and the need for cultural and methodological adaptation, while also consolidating essential Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) practices, such as prioritizing visual elements and providing multimodal feedback. The practical application demonstrated the usefulness of the Guia da Lilla as a structuring tool in the PD process, resulting in concrete accessibility improvements in the developed system and the effective inclusion of Deaf individuals as the system’s primary focus. It is concluded that PD is fundamental for creating inclusive technologies, and the Guia da Lilla represents the main contribution of this research, offering a validated methodological resource for developing systems WITH and FOR the Deaf community.