News > Social Media Snapchat Adds AR Sign Language Lenses Learn how to sign common phrases By Allison Murray Allison Murray Twitter Tech News Reporter Southern Illinois University Allison reports on all things tech. She's a news junky that keeps her eye on the latest trends. Allison is a writer working out of Chicago, IL, with her only coworker: her cat Norbert. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 21, 2021 Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr Twitter University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Social Media Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Tech Leaders Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Women in Gaming Snapchat has introduced new lenses and stickers to help teach users sign language. The new augmented reality (AR) lenses—available on Tuesday—teach users how to sign their name, as well as common words like "love," "hug," and "smile," according to the app’s blog post. The new features coincide with this week’s International Week of Deaf. Burak Karademir / Getty Images There are also new Bitmoji stickers you can add to your snap conversations that depict commonly signed words. "No matter where you live, what your background is, what you look like, or how you communicate, we want all members of our community to feel as though our products are made for them—and that includes native signers," Snapchat said in its post. “We look forward to learning more from our community as we strive to continuously improve the experience for everyone on Snapchat.” Snapchat said the new features were designed with help from employees with hearing challenges at the company, as well as SignAII’s artificial intelligence technology. The tech recognizes and translates American Sign Language language using AR filters. Igor Alecsander / Getty Images Aside from Snapchat, other tech companies have been incorporating and prioritizing. For example, earlier this year, Apple introduced impressive new accessibility features on its devices. Some of these new features include support for bi-directional hearing aids, so users who use them can have a hands-free phone and FaceTime conversations. Other platforms adding more accessibility features include Instagram automatically adding captions on Stories with a simple sticker and Xbox adding speech-to-text and text-to-speech abilities to the Xbox Party Chat. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit