• “Learn the sign language of the Australian Deaf community – Auslan.” With OpenAccess Smart Auslan, learning Auslan has never been easier.

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Discover how OpenAccess Face to Face increases learning and literacy outcomes at primary school (Auslan with captioned audio)

Learning and conversing between Auslan and English has never been easier

  • A comprehensive and still growing list of words in several themes including ‘Everyday Words’, ‘Food’, ‘Family’, ‘Sport’, ‘Animals’, ‘Workplace’, ‘Services’, ‘Countries’, ‘Technology’, etc.
  • Everyday Words’ categories include ‘Greetings’, ‘emotions’, common words’, ‘colours’, phrases and ‘idioms’, etc.
  • Instant access to Auslan signs in your pocket.
  • Great for young deaf children and their families to learn.
  • A unique learning app as it includes the English word or phrase, the Auslan sign, handshape option and an image of the word.
  • Hearing people keen to learn Auslan, can watch short Auslan videos and practice anywhere and anytime.

Open Access Smart Auslan benefits

1.1 million

Australians

who are hard of hearing

20000

Australians

who are Deaf and use Auslan

1,000,000's

Anyone

with an interest in learning Australian Sign Language

About OpenAccess Smart Auslan

The ability to communicate is our most human characteristic. It’s essential to everyday contact with people and helps us learning, participate in education and work and, importantly in social interaction.

By popular demand, with the success of our OpenAccess Face to Face app which works only with iPads, many people have asked for a mobile version that can be pulled out of a pocket for quick access to Auslan signs.

Conexu appreciates support from our community partners including Deaf Sport Australia, Furlong Park School for Deaf Children, Aurora School, Expression Australia and our many wonderful Auslan translators for making this happen.

Introducing OpenAccess Smart Auslan. A free iPhone app supporting Auslan learning and communication between deaf and hearing people.

With more than 2000 words and phrases, the app is one of Australia’s biggest databases of Auslan and a easy standalone tool for learning Australian Sign Language.

Communication barriers are broken down as Deaf and hearing people are able to communicate across languages with instant Auslan to English interactions, increasing learning and literacy opportunities.

Who we are

Conexu believes communication barriers should never stop people from reaching their potential.

We are a national non-profit organisation, and experts in both technology and communication access. It’s our whole focus.

Our purpose is to use technology to bridge the communication divide between hard of hearing, Deaf or speech impaired Australians and the broader community.

Since 2011, our award winning team has been developing accessible apps with our communities to overcome communication barriers using mainstream technology. 


Learn about Conexu's other OpenAccess apps:

Access the arts (OpenAccess Tours)

Join the conversation (OpenAccess Chat)   

Our other Auslan learning tool with an education focus (OpenAccess Face to Face)

Learn about accessible technology website for deaf and hard of hearing people (Techfinder)

Features

 

Available on iPhone or iPad

for easy display 

It’s only $4.49

Smart Auslan complements and supports

Auslan learning classes enabling

you to practice at home,

work or anywhere.

Vast library of Auslan videos and icons on different topics

Quick way to learn Auslan, practice, improve Auslan communication skills, improve English literacy skills anywhere and anytime.

- A comprehensive vocabulary list of over 2000 words and still growing;

- Several themes including ‘Everyday words’, ‘Food’, ‘Sport’, ‘family’, ‘Education’, ’Workplace’ ‘Countries’, ‘Services’ and more;

- Ability to slowdown playback to help practice your Auslan signing;

- Can create sentences;

- Create favorite words or phrases

- Word search and more.

Sync content to appear on paired iPhone or iPad

to learn together with others

Build favourites

for popular words, phrases and sentences

Helpful Tips

Create sentences, slow down video speed, share Auslan videos with others and word search option

OVER 2000 WORDS (and growing)

one of Australia’s biggest databases of Auslan

Case Studies

  • Creating Auslan Signs for Health and Wellbeing vocabulary.

    With a grant from the Brockhoff Foundation in May 2018, Conexu is currently working with Deaf organisations and schools to develop a list of over 500 words to be translated into Auslan and add to our Open Access Face to Face app and OpenAccess Smart Auslan app soon.

    With current community concern about mental health and wellbeing, young deaf people are at risk of missing out on important information and understanding the meaning of common words used when talking or learning about this important issue. With access to Auslan signs for these words, deaf people.

  • Building Australia's first Auslan sports sign dictionary

    Together, Conexu and Deaf Sports Australia decided to build Australia’s first deaf sports sign dictionary housed in the face-to-face app. The app provides a way for coaches and team mates to easily learn the key signs to use to communicate during training and during the game. And it’s not just language barriers that come down. Bringing people together through learning simple Auslan (Australian Sign Language) also removes negative stereotypes and breeds acceptance. The app provides a ready reference for non-Auslan users to refer to when they’re learning or if they forget the sign.

    In December 2015, athletes at the Australian Deaf Games started recording ‘draft’ signs for their sports. So far, 8 sports and over 480 signs have been captured. Auslan has local variations that must be catered for and the next step is working through the signs to find the ones that the community believes are best.

    In August 2016, Conexu won a $5k grant from Sunsuper to continue working with Deaf Sports Australia on building out this sports sign content. 

  • A tool for better communication with university study

    I use OpenAccess Face to Face (or Smart Auslan) at work and university for my studies. Firstly, my supervisor wants to learn how to sign with me, She wants to get involved in the Deaf community to help me out and understand how to sign. I showed her OpenAccess Face to Face so she can see the signs. She can learn one word at a time or important words to help her communicate with me at work.

    At university, other students in my class want to know how to sign too, so I showed them OpenAccess Face to Face and they were like, “WOW it’s great!” They see the interpreters and think they’re fantastic. They think it’s great.

    - Dan Jarvis, currently studying his Master of Bsuiness and uses OpenAccess Face to Face or Smart Auslan to assist with communication  

How it works

Infographic showing how to use the app for in-person conversation

Infographic showing how to use the app for in-person conversation (step one)

Infographic showing how to use the app for in-person conversation (step two)

Infographic showing how to use the app for in-person conversation (step three)

Anyone is able to choose the words or phrase they want to sign and then a short, pre-recorded video shows an Auslan sign(s) for their selection. When two devices are paired, the video can simultaneously plays on the other person’s iPad allowing the two parties to communicate. Users are also able to string sentences together in Auslan, something you can’t do with any other app. Alternately, you can use the app on one iPad or iPhone to learn Auslan at home, work or at school.

Click here to download the how to guide

Click here to watch our video tutorial

FAQs.

Answers to frequently asked questions.

Who can use this app?

Anyone with an iPhone or iPad

Anyone who wants to learn or communicate in Auslan for everyday communication, school, work or social purposes, can benefit from this learning tool. The app was developed as a community learning tool to overcome communication barriers and assist communication between Deaf people and hearing people.

How much does it cost?

The app will cost $4.49 to download. You can buy it at Apple App store. Conexu is a non-profit organisation and this small fee helps cover some of the costs to create and improve the app.

Downloading the video library when you initially set up the app uses data. The files are large and can take a bit of time to download, so it’s best to use Wi-Fi to minimise your data costs.

What devices do I need?

OpenAccess Smart Auslan requires an iPhone or iPad with iOS 8.0 or later.

How do I get started?

Getting started is easy! After downloading the app, you will find a list of themes that include ‘Everyday Words’, ‘Food’, 'Countries', ‘Family’, ‘Sport’, ‘Hospitality’, ‘Workplace’, ‘Technology’, etc.

You can choose to download the complete video library or select which themes to download. It is best to do this on a Wi-Fi network. Please set aside time for this first time as there are quite a few videos (note: you will only need to do this once). When it’s finished you can scroll through the themes and categories and start learning Auslan. Using our ‘Add to Sentence’ feature, you can string together sentences and practice at home, school, work or out and about. 

Contact us

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