SignCascade UD

Universal-design tools for the classroom, and primary-source writing on sign language, deaf education, and accessibility in Japan — from someone who spent twelve years teaching in a school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

日本語のサイトはこちら →

Start here

Three pieces that give a sense of what this site is

Sign Language

Sign-Language Interpreter Pay in Japan: “Only 13% Is Visible”

We checked, one municipality at a time, what an interpreter is paid for a two-hour assignment. A confirmed amount was public for only 13%.

→ Read more
Disability Rights

“Nothing About Us Without Us” — Tracing the History of Sign Language and Disability Rights

From the Black civil rights movement and the Section 504 sit-in to Deaf President Now, the CRPD, and Japan’s sign-language laws.

→ Read more
Universal Design

An AAC App You Can Use Without Touching the Screen

When a finger cannot reliably land on flat glass, pressing accurately is not the only route to being understood. Three ways to change how you press.

→ Read more
→ All English articles

What you’ll find here

Some pages have a Japanese interface, marked below

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Blog

Sign language and interpreting, deaf education, disability rights, and universal design — written from primary sources and cited.

Koe Palette — AAC app

Press a card, and it speaks. English interface included. Works offline, supports MIDI devices and scanning. Android, free core features.

Get it on Google Play
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Interpreter Pay MapJapanese

What sign-language interpreters are actually paid across Japan, municipality by municipality, on a map.

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Classroom toolsJapanese

Timers, scoreboards, seating charts, PDF utilities. Everything runs in the browser — no sign-up, nothing uploaded.

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About

Who writes this, and why. Twelve years teaching English at a school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

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ContactJapanese

Corrections, questions, and requests are all welcome. Messages in English are fine.