BSL is not for sale: A Deaf-led approach to AI procurement

Abstract

British Sign Language (BSL) AI systems are being procured across UK public services without adequate Deaf community involvement, creating institutional risks. Current procurement approaches treat BSL as a technical accessibility challenge rather than recognising it as a complete language with legal standing under the BSL Act 2022. This generates predictable failures that undermine linguistic rights, compromise service effectiveness, and create serious legal compliance risks. This report examines a critical gap in current AI governance: the routine exclusion of Deaf expertise from procurement decisions affecting BSL signers. Through detailed analysis of emerging harms and institutional risks, it demonstrates that current approaches to BSL AI commissioning generate predictable failures that undermine linguistic rights, compromise service effectiveness, and create legal compliance challenges for public bodies. The report’s analysis demonstrates that inclusive BSL AI procurement is both legally required and practically achievable. The barriers are not technical or financial but procedural — i.e., rooted in commissioning frameworks that exclude community expertise and misread BSL’s linguistic complexity.