Good practice

Signs TV et assistALL (Signs Media Kenya)

Signs Media Kenya, à Nairobi, diffuse gratuitement des contenus en langue des signes kényane via Signs TV et, via assistALL, a apporté une interprétation payante à des milliers de Sourds — utilisée lors des élections de 2022.

<2,000 → 7,000

Utilisateurs d'assistALL (2022)

~500,000

Téléspectateurs sourds estimés de Signs TV

143,000 GBP

Subvention du GSMA Innovation Fund

Signs TV et 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, fondée à Nairobi en 2011, exploite Signs TV - la chaîne gratuite en langue des signes kenyane, à l'antenne depuis 2017 - et a lancé assistALL en avril 2022, une application mobile d'interprétation en langue des signes payante et à la demande, soutenue par une subvention de 143 000 GBP du GSMA Innovation Fund for Assistive Technology et par le UNDP Kenya Disability Innovation Challenge.

Results

Le Zero Project a documenté la croissance d'assistALL de moins de 2 000 téléchargements à la mi-2022 à 7 000 utilisateurs fin 2022, et la commission électorale du Kenya a adopté l'application pour aider les électeurs sourds aux élections générales d'août 2022. L'audience de Signs TV est estimée à environ 500 000 téléspectateurs sourds ; le Kenya ne compte qu'environ 500 interprètes agréés pour un nombre estimé de 260 000 personnes sourdes ou malentendantes, un goulot d'étranglement structurel pour le passage à l'échelle.

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

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