Signing Nature Center Glossary

The Signing Glossaries for Science Exhibits (SGSE) includes six venue-specific signing glossaries for use with iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Each glossary is designed to enhance access of visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing and have some knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) to STEM content during visits to aquariums, botanical gardens, natural history museums, nature centers, science museums, and zoos.

Terms can be accessed from an alphabetical list, from a category list, and using a search feature. Definition pages include the term and its definition in English, and icons for listening to the term and its definition, seeing a 3D avatar character sign, and viewing an illustration. Controls can be used to start and stop the signing, loop back to the beginning, increase the page size, and go back to the definition page. A Quick Start Guide in each app walks you through what the glossary has to offer.


Text and illustrations were developed by and are copyrighted by TERC, Cambridge, Massachusetts. SigningAvatar™ animation technology was designed, developed and copyrighted by Vcom3D, Inc. All rights reserved.

The glossaries were developed by TERC and funded in part by the National Science Foundation, Grant # 1602284. All opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.