MEET THE DEVELOPER

ASL for All

How Ink & Salt is spreading the good word about American Sign Language.

For Matt, Melissa, and Megan Malzkuhn—third-generation Deaf siblings and cofounders of the deaf-owned development company Ink & Salt—their aha moment came in the form of a $300 check.

It was September 2013, and the Malzkuhns, along with Deaf coder Tim Kettering, had entered a competition to pitch a business idea for positive social change. Their proposal? An app that teaches American Sign Language (ASL) using videos created by native Deaf signers. At the time, “there were too few resources created by deaf themselves,” said Matt in an email interview with the developers.

[Photo description: Megan Malzkuhn wears a black shirt and has bright blue highlights in her hair. She stands in front of a yellow wall. At work she takes on projects involving designing and producing—think user interface, logos, postcards, business cards, marketing, advertising, editing content, and more.]

The $300 prize may have been modest, but it provided the foursome validation they were onto something.

Emboldened, the Malzkuhns and Kettering started Ink & Salt. Eighteen challenging and humbling months later, they launched The ASL App. Today it’s approaching 1.5 million downloads and includes more than 1,500 short instructional videos.

From the start, the team knew it wanted the app to do more than teach basic vocabulary, Megan says. “ASL is a rich, complex language, and it is difficult to reduce ASL into simple word-for-word translations.”

[Photo description: Tim Kettering’s gray and red plaid shirt and dark jeans pop against the yellow background. At Ink & Salt, he uses his coding know-how to turn ideas into reality. He keeps the company current on new tech trends; at the moment he's considering augmented reality.]

In addition to fundamentals, like how to sign the alphabet, The ASL App teaches practical phrases—ones you’d use in everyday life. Think categories like Dining & Signing, Life of the Party, and Family Milestones & Life Events.

The app features six native signers who demonstrate the nuances of the language through their facial expressions and body language, with each instructor’s personality and unique way of signing encouraged to come through.

To ensure that first-time signers don’t feel overwhelmed, Ink & Salt built a number of beginner-friendly controls, says Kettering. Tapping on a video pauses it, while swiping left or right is a quick way to rewind or fast-forward. There’s also a dedicated slow-motion button in the form of a turtle icon.

Every time I talk about The ASL App or the work I do for Ink & Salt, I always get smiles from both Deaf and hearing.

—Megan Malzkuhn

The Deaf Culture FAQ (found in the app’s Info section) provides key information about the Deaf community and its connection to ASL. “You can’t separate language and culture,” says Melissa. “We pride ourselves most on being authentic.” For example, the FAQ explains that “Deaf” with capital D represents people who are members of the Deaf community, identify themselves culturally as Deaf, and use ASL; “deaf” with a lowercase d refers to individuals with hearing loss.

The ASL App continues to evolve. The team is looking at adding more interactive experiences so you can track your learning progress, and augmented reality is on the developer’s radar.

[Photo description: Melissa Malzkuhn is photographed in front of the yellow wall, in a green jacket and pink top. She oversees creative direction, which involves a bit of everything: managing social media marketing and branding, exploring the user experience, producing videos, and community outreach.]

Ink & Salt has grown considerably too. With offices in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston, the company has since released ASL With Care Bears, geared toward kids, and ASL Stickers With Nyle, featuring Nyle DiMarco, the first Deaf America’s Top Model and Dancing With Stars winner. With the sticker pack, Ink & Salt became the first ASL developer on Apple’s Messages platform.

“Every time I talk about The ASL App or the work I do for Ink & Salt, I always get smiles from both Deaf and hearing,” Megan says. “They believe in the same cause: Deaf and hearing people can work together.”

[Photo description: Project manager Matt Malzkuhn, wearing a short-sleeve denim shirt, stands in front of the yellow background with his thumbs in his jeans pockets. At Ink & Salt, Matt is focused on content development. Every team member is also responsible for forging relationships with businesses nationwide to make ASL more widely accessible.]

So what’s one ASL phrase everyone should know?

“How do you sign…[fill in the blank]?” says Melissa. (You’ll find it in “The Basics!” bundle of the app.) “People can point at what they are trying to sign, and the deaf person you’re talking to will sign it out for you.” This is the most empowering phrase in ASL, she says, because it enables you to keep learning.