"WHAT WE DO - AND WHY WE DO IT"

The organization was founded to create a vocabulary sign language course on CD that could easily and inexpensively teach Deaf and hearing people to communicate effectively using Sign Language.

The aim of Segno Communication is to develop user-friendly software packages that will enable both able-bodied and disabled members of our society, experiencing difficulty in day-to-day communication, to communicate in a friendly and understandable manner. Our SignGenius products can make a large impact on improving communication skills in communities across the world.

There simply are no other Sign Language teaching systems available that can compete with the software being developed by Segno Communication.

Until the development of the SignGenius series known as SignGenius ASL/SASL Pro, attending sign language classes was the only option. This is a rather time consuming and often inconvenient way for people to learn and should a sign be forgotten, the learner has no option but to wait until the next class to have it repeated.

Books are not much easier either. Movement cannot be shown in books, even though it is a vital part of Sign Language. The use of arrows to indicate movement often leaves the learner unsure of what the sign is supposed to look like.

Although VHS videos are available, this method is also time consuming and very costly for a set covering all the various sectors of society. Opposed to sign language software, VHS technology is very limited and one can merely view signs. With our SignGenius series we have several modules integrated into one application. Amongst others: Tips, Tutor, Test, Score Modules.

Segno Communication's software is about solving these problems, giving people the opportunity to learn Sign Language...

• at THEIR OWN pace,
• in THEIR OWN time,
• in THEIR OWN homes,
• in THEIR PAYAMAS if they want!

SignGenius the interactive, fast, convenient, affordable Sign Language solution.

Mission Statement

To uplift and empower the Deaf people through innovative technology, to be equal to the rest of the healthy community. This can only be achieved if the Hearing can communicate with the Deaf people and visa versa. We support a DFE, "Deaf Friendly Environment"
We understand to succeed in this goal at all times we should take great care of our customers as they are the core & heart of our business. See our testimonial section confessing this >>>

Organizational Structure

The members of this organization are as following:

Hennie Laing:
Born in 1962 and 70+% deaf.
Schooling at Trans Oranje School for Deaf and Sonitus School for Hard of hearing. Matriculated in 1979. Worked at Tshwane Deaf Association from 1998 to 2001 on a volunteer basis and this is where the idea was born to develop sign language training materials that are user friendly and understandable.
The project was initiated by Hennie in Feb 2002. Hennie is a South African "Einstein" with several registered patents to his name. Hennie is currently an instructor at Tshwane South College for FET.

Martin van den Berg:
Born in 1978, 100% hearing.
Martin was a student at Tuine T.H.S till 1996. He is the Head of our Technical Department. Known as a "technical expert" with 8+ years of "hands-on" experience. He is owner of a eminent Technical Advise & Support company with an elite client base. Martin is well qualified in: Networking, Wireless Networking, MS Windows (all), Linux (all), Security Solutions, PABX Systems, Video & Audio Streaming, just to mention a few.

Marius van Tubbergh:
Born in 1980, 100% hearing.
He completed his high school career at Tom Naude T.H.S.
Marius is our team leading developer with personal programming experience of 6+ years.
He is also a capable and proven Delphi, Pascal, PHP, HTML, SQL developer.
Marius has developed various popular software tools which can be found on the internet.
Amongst others he has developed a fitness software application for the South African Cricket Team. He is also owner & partly owner of 2 other successful software companies.

General

Phase One was started in March 2002 and is completed in July 2003. Excluding the members, nine Deaf people from five provinces were involved in this phase. Because the TV is a media that has the widest reach in terms of the Deaf, we constantly compared the signs we were incorporating with those used in deaf programs and can confidently say that the signs we used represent 70-80% of those seen on TV.

In January 2006 SignGenius Lite (discontinued) had undergone a total make-over and gave birth to our SignGenius Pro series. New videos of outstanding quality where captured for the SignGenius ASL Pro version. SignGenius Pro is regarded the most stable version of all times. Officially launched in March 2006.

The Deaf society will therefore be the first to benefit from this project. Enabling the hearing people to communicate with the Deaf more effectively will create an environment where the Deaf will be able to learn more easily, which will improve their intellect, uplift their living standard and empower them to obtain better employment which will in turn provide better living. They will no longer feel excluded from society.