Good practice

Signs TV y assistALL (Signs Media Kenya)

Signs Media Kenya, en Nairobi, emite contenidos gratuitos en lengua de signos keniata vía Signs TV y, con assistALL, llevó interpretación de pago a miles de personas sordas — usada en las elecciones de 2022.

<2,000 → 7,000

Usuarios de assistALL (2022)

~500,000

Televidentes sordos estimados de Signs TV

143,000 GBP

Subvención del GSMA Innovation Fund

Signs TV y assistALL (Signs Media Kenya)

Details

Maturity: Scaling
Promoter: Signs Media Kenya Limited
Period: 2011–present (Signs TV broadcasting since 2017)
Keywords: deaf accessibility, sign-language media, assistive technology, digital inclusion

Context

Signs Media Kenya, fundada en Nairobi en 2011, opera Signs TV - el canal gratuito en lengua de señas keniana, en emisión desde 2017 - y lanzó assistALL en abril de 2022, una aplicación móvil de interpretación de lengua de señas de pago y bajo demanda, respaldada por una subvención de 143.000 GBP del GSMA Innovation Fund for Assistive Technology y por el UNDP Kenya Disability Innovation Challenge.

Results

El Zero Project documentó el crecimiento de assistALL de menos de 2.000 descargas a mediados de 2022 a 7.000 usuarios a finales de 2022, y la comisión electoral de Kenia adoptó la aplicación para asistir a votantes sordos en las elecciones generales de agosto de 2022. El alcance de Signs TV se estima en unos 500.000 televidentes sordos; Kenia solo cuenta con unos 500 intérpretes registrados para unas 260.000 personas sordas o con pérdida auditiva, un cuello de botella estructural para escalar.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-07-03
Signs Media Kenya Limited — accessed 2026-07-03
GSMA Mobile for Development — grantee profile — accessed 2026-07-03
Zero Project (Essl Foundation) — independent profile — accessed 2026-07-03
UN SDG Action Awards — Signs TV Kenya — accessed 2026-07-03
The Standard/Evewoman — founder profile — accessed 2026-07-03

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 96/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported

Top 1% in this catalogue (573 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Innovation level4/5

Pairs free-to-air sign-language broadcasting with a paid interpretation app, assistALL — described by GSMA as the only African-owned and -operated startup in its 2021 assistive-tech grant cohort, and separately recognised by the UNDP Kenya Disability Innovation Challenge (GSMA Mobile for Development; SDG Action Awards).

Sustainability (ongoing)1/1

Active continuously since Signs TV's 2017 broadcast launch through at least the Zero Project's 2022+ profile, sustained via a mix of grant funding (GSMA/FCDO) and corporate subscription revenue.

Evaluation evidence1/1

Independently tracked by the Zero Project (Essl Foundation) database, which documents assistALL user growth from under 2,000 to 7,000 within roughly a year (mid- to late-2022), alongside GSMA's own grantee monitoring.

Demonstrated reach1/1

assistALL was adopted by Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to assist Deaf voters in the August 2022 general election, and Signs TV is estimated to reach roughly 500,000 Deaf viewers (SDG Action Awards; Zero Project).

Documented learning1/1

The Zero Project profile explicitly flags a structural bottleneck — only about 500 registered sign-language interpreters serving an estimated 260,000 Deaf or hard-of-hearing Kenyans — and treats the subscription funding model as an unproven-at-scale open question.

Cite this

Evidoria. Signs TV y assistALL (Signs Media Kenya). Persistent ID: 83ba0f40-50bb-46de-818b-ee756a8c5b38.

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