Jayce's Story

Technology and How it Allows Accessibility to the Deaf Community

The rise of digital technology has been instrumental in bridging long-standing accessibility gaps for disabled individuals. For Jayce, technology plays a crucial role in his advocacy work, helps fill the gaps in inaccessibility, and connects him with his community.

“Digital space has had a profound impact on my work and my life as a deaf person who cannot access information through audio. I can’t hear—it affects how I perceive the world and creates challenges when interacting with society. I rely heavily on my eyes to catch details, to observe.”

Before the widespread availability of assistive technology, simple daily activities were often challenging. For instance, when dining at a Chinese restaurant, he and his friends had to resort to pointing at other customers’ meals to place their orders. Now, he uses Google’s translation service, which allows him to communicate more effectively—whether ordering food or navigating conversations while travelling abroad in places like Vietnam and Thailand.

Beyond personal convenience, digital platforms have transformed how the deaf community in Malaysia connects and shares information. He describes engaging with his community online as a profound source of joy and empowerment. Deaf individuals, who often face barriers in reading and writing fluently, rely on social media as a primary source of accessible information. Announcements and updates can now be shared in Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) via video content, making information more widely available and reducing the long delays that often came with person-to-person relay communication. Before the advent of video-based social media, the only way to disseminate information was through word-of-mouth—a process that was slow, prone to miscommunication, and often diluted in meaning.

While he acknowledges that repeating the lived experiences of deaf individuals—both within the disabled community and to non-deaf audiences—can be exhausting, he still finds a sense of purpose in doing so. “It is stressful, yes. But it is also a source of pleasure to be able to communicate, connect, and have our experiences heard.” This highlights how the act of being seen and understood is deeply affirming, not just as a personal experience but as a collective one.

Building a Digital Movement for Deaf Rights

In addition to reaching his community, Jayce is keenly aware of the limitations of existing deaf associations in Malaysia. Many are heavily welfare-focused, often failing to address the broader needs of the deaf community, such as language development, legal rights, and advocacy. This realisation led him to establish three different non-profit organisations, each serving a specific need within the community:

1. Development and strengthening of BIM (Malaysian Sign Language)

2. Educating deaf individuals about their rights and the legal protections available to them

3. Organising a pool of sign language instructors to expand the teaching of BIM nationwide

Traditionally, setting up an organisation has been associated with needing physical office space. However, Jayce challenges this notion, recognising that the internet has made it possible to build and run impactful organisations without the constraints of a physical location. His perspective was further reinforced during the pandemic, when the global shift to digital workspaces redefined traditional structures for running non-profits.

The Stigma Surrounding Sign Language

While the internet has significantly improved accessibility for the deaf community, its benefits are lost when connectivity is disrupted. A barrier to the pleasure of digital accessibility emerges when the deaf community is cut off from it—whether due to poor internet access, power outages, or lack of service in remote areas. Jayce recalls moments of frustration when he was unable to access information, highlighting the critical role that mobile phones play in the daily lives of deaf individuals.

“For example, when your car is spoiled on the highways and there is no or poor connection to the internet, there is very limited help available. Some drivers are afraid of us as we would use gestures as well as our body language to ask for help and they don’t trust us.”

This reflects a deeper societal stigma against sign language and non-verbal communication. The alienation of sign language as a valid mode of expression reinforces a world that prioritises uniformity over inclusivity. Sign language is often perceived as inferior to spoken language and, in many cases, dismissed as an incomplete or undesirable way to communicate.

This stigma—rooted in societal perceptions of disability, fear of difference, and a lack of awareness—shapes how deaf individuals are treated in everyday interactions. It is not simply about accessibility; it is about whose forms of communication are accepted, respected, and legitimised.

Discovering Queer Identity through the Internet

Jayce’s journey toward understanding his queer identity began with his first encounters with sexual content online during the early days of Jaring, Malaysia’s first internet service provider. Curiosity led him to a newsletter, marking his first exposure to the existence of diverse sexual orientations beyond the heteronormative framework he had always known. This discovery became a turning point, leading to his realisation of his attraction to men.

However, his understanding remained uncertain and conflicted—shaped by societal norms that dictated heterosexuality as the default. In Malaysia, LGBTIQ+ individuals face systemic discrimination, criminalisation, and, in many cases, conversion practices. “The internet helped me find out more information and gave me space to talk to friends, including some who were out of Malaysia who shared with me information about gays and the LGBTIQ+ communities. This is how I learned and got to know more about my identity.”

A widespread but harmful misconception is the perception of disabled individuals as asexual. The medical model of disability, which focuses primarily on impairments rather than abilities, reinforces this erasure. This framework often acts as a barrier to acknowledging that disabled individuals have the same capacity for romantic and sexual relationships as non-disabled people. It fuels the misperception that disability and desirability cannot coexist, reducing disabled individuals solely to their impairments rather than seeing them as whole people.

As Jayce continued to navigate his self-discovery, he struggled with a lack of accessible, reliable information. For example, he recalled difficulties in finding clear definitions for terms like pansexuality. His experiences were not isolated; members of the deaf LGBTIQ+ community frequently sought him out for guidance, as their access to identity-affirming resources was even more limited. He often found himself researching the right information and conveying it in BIM, ensuring that his community could access and understand these terms in their native language.

Heartbreaks within Digital Spaces 

When asked about his experiences of heartbreak in the digital space, Jayce smiled, admitting that he had often been the heartbreaker in many of his relationships. However, what truly brought him hopelessness and heartbreak was witnessing the rights and welfare of deaf individuals being violated—and the lack of meaningful support available to them.

This sense of frustration deepened when he found himself unable to provide the necessary support due to his own limitations. One incident that particularly affected him was the case of a Malaysian deaf Grab driver who was assaulted. His organisation issued a press statement detailing the events of the assault, the systemic lack of protections for deaf individuals, and the mistreatment the victim endured at the hands of the police. When the statement was picked up by major news outlets, he was hopeful that it would spark necessary conversations.

However, his frustration grew when he later discovered that the statement had been removed from Facebook without warning or explanation. There were no traces left behind, and the erasure happened without his knowledge. This experience was a stark reminder that while the internet and digital platforms have expanded accessibility for the deaf community, they also remain vulnerable to suppression and censorship.

Jayce remains deeply concerned about the Malaysian government’s increasing use of censorship as a mechanism of control. He fears the broader implications of such restrictions, particularly on the right to access information—something already limited for persons with disabilities.

Learnings from Jayce’s Lived Experience

This case study finds that technological advancements have played a significant role in bridging long-standing accessibility gaps for deaf individuals—particularly in communication, access to information, and the ability to exercise freedom of expression and opinion. The development of digital spaces and the ease of accessing them have profoundly expanded the autonomy and functionality of disabled individuals, breaking barriers that were once imposed by inaccessible environments and rigid societal systems.

Beyond accessibility, technology has provided a crucial space for community, connection, and mutual understanding. For the deaf community, digital platforms have not only created opportunities for engagement but have also amplified their voices, making their lived experiences visible in ways that were previously sidelined or ignored. Perhaps most transformative is the way technology has empowered deaf individuals to advocate for themselves, their identities, and their communities—challenging long-standing discrimination and exclusion.

However, this progress remains vulnerable to anti-rights movements and increasing digital censorship.Marginalised communities are often allowed space for expression only to the extent that their voices do not disrupt the status quo. The use of censorship as a tool of control continues to pose a serious threat to freedom of expression—limiting the ability of disabled individuals to speak out, organise, and demand systemic change.

This case study also acknowledges its limitations, particularly in exploring the nuances of heartbreak in digital spaces. While Jayce’s experiences highlight some of the emotional and systemic challenges faced by disabled individuals online, more research is needed to document the full extent of discrimination within digital spaces. A deeper examination of these lived realities is critical in identifying and dismantling barriers—ultimately contributing to more inclusive and accessible digital platforms and technology.