Tecnologias assistivas na inclusão de estudantes surdos e deficientes auditivos no ensino de computação

Abstract

The inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing students in higher education, especially in Computer Science programs, still faces communicational, pedagogical, and technological barriers that directly impact academic access and retention. This study aims to investigate how assistive technologies contribute to the inclusion of these students, as well as to identify gaps in the currently available solutions. The research was conducted in two stages: (i) a comparative evaluation of technological tools based on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) criteria, such as usability, communicability, and accessibility; and (ii) a case study involving students from a Computer Science program, aiming to understand their academic experiences and perceptions regarding accessibility. The results indicate that tools such as automatic sign language translators, real-time transcription systems, and interactive educational platforms have significant potential to support learning. However, most of these solutions are primarily designed for signing deaf students, while the participants in this study are predominantly oralized hard of hearing students. The main difficulties reported are related to classroom communication, especially in contexts involving noise, mask usage, and the need to divide attention between oral explanations and visual content. It is concluded that, although assistive technologies represent important advances in educational accessibility, their effectiveness depends on integration with inclusive teaching practices, proper teacher training, and adequate institutional support.