Stray Sheep Improves Accessibility for the Deaf with AI Voice

Bulgaria has 120,000 deaf people, but there are only 10 to 15 sign language interpreters, a severe shortage. Stray Sheep is a social enterprise working to bridge this gap through Bulgarian sign language education and awareness campaigns.

Although Bulgaria recognized sign language as an official language in 2021, more people need to learn sign language for deaf individuals to be understood in daily life. Stray Sheep conducts education led by deaf instructors and collaborates with large corporations such as Allianz, Yettel, and Postbank to provide corporate sign language training. Recently, it provided interpretation services for deaf attendees at Iron Maiden's concert in Sofia.

Stray Sheep's videos are created with a three-layer structure. Subtitles are overlaid on the sign language screen, and voice narration is added on top, allowing deaf and hearing audiences to receive the same story from the same video. This voice narration is generated by ElevenLabs' Text-to-Speech and is used in educational videos, awareness campaigns, documentaries, and educational materials.

Co-founder Alex Kalinov stated, "Thanks to ElevenLabs, small teams like ours can produce professional-quality voiceovers without the costs and logistical issues of traditional voice acting production."

Stray Sheep is expanding its digital sign language education platform, aiming for tens of thousands of learners, increasing the production of accessible videos for corporations and public institutions, and plans to expand beyond Bulgaria with educational experiences combining sign language and AI.