The idea of using sign language for visitors is not new. Vaishnavi et al (2020) suggest the projects related to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 2008 could help the deaf to have their access to cherished and necessary information. In this convention, countries were urged to make television contents available for the deaf communities too. There are six European partners engaged in CONTENT4ALL (C4A) project to fulfill the rights of the deaf. Their project Immersive Accessibility (ImAc) showed that making the cultural contents accessible for the deaf community can help reach a wider audience with a non-traditional experience (Vaishnavi et al 2020). No Finnish organization is involved with the project.

Countries like Greece have taken this accessibility approach to the next level by declaring Greek Sign Language (GSL) an official language of the Hellenic State (Law 2817/2000). According to a survey of Gallaudet University of Greece in 1986, there were 40,600 people using this language. As the number increased, the necessity of accessibility was needed and introduced to official and educational communication platforms mandatorily. Although the law is passed, it is difficult for deaf people in Greece and other countries to find appropriate content with sign language (Eleni and Stavroula, 2007).

There is a misconception where deaf people are thought to understand texts properly. But it is proven by the statistics of the Hellenic Pedagogical Institute that a born deaf person has an average reading capability of a mid-primary school level (Koubertis and Noima, 1999). Therefore, the sign language version of the website and digitally created speaking paintings are going to give the cathedral new visitors and the deaf community a new hope.

Related regulations are also applied by American Alliance of Museums (AAM) stating that a museum should demonstrate a commitment to providing the public with both physical and intellectual access along with complying with accessibility laws and offering opportunities for diverse participation (AAM 2016). The interactive Augsburg Display Cabinet at the Getty Museum for homebound and deaf museum goers and the Vlog (virtual blogs) Project at the Whitney Museum that caters to the deaf community are some examples which have introduced accessibility for deaf people after New Americans with Disability Act standards were adopted by the Department of Justice in 2010.

An accessible mobile application owned by the Canadian Museum of Human Rights provides an audio guide with text-based transcripts and sign language for deaf visitors. The application offers both options to use American Sign Language (ASL) or Langue des Signes Québécois (LSQ), other contents can also be added (Osterman 2018). The feedback has been positive, and the engagement with visitors has increased in these museums. As the cathedral has educational contents with art and architecture, these designs can be adopted to help to study the pros and cons of an audio-guide based system while initiating a demonstration in the cathedral website.