Schambach, E. (2024):

Design and Evaluation of a Sign Language Dictionary leveraging Wikidata’s Semantics

The work explores the utilization of the Wikidata platform and its standard tools as the backend for an online dictionary for Hausa Sign Language. In this context, there exists an official website providing an overview of Hausa Sign Language, alongside two separate applications for Android and iOS, each with its own database. This situation results in the aim of creating a common database to be implemented into a cross-platform application. Dart/Flutter was chosen as the cross-platform programming language. For the common database, Wikidata: Lexicographical Data was selected as an online dictionary. Due to its structure and regulations for sign language representation, the frontend had to be adapted to efficiently display the content of each entry. To retrieve specific entry components, the SPARQL system was employed for querying across diverse data sources, assisting in addressing certain regulations imposed by Wikidata. The interface for executing SPARQL queries was implemented using the FutureBuilder widget, which allows for the asynchronous construction of user interfaces while awaiting the completion of Future objects. Another crucial aspect was overcoming the lack of a local database to implement features like marking entries as favorites. The SharedPreferences package was employed to persistently store these entries. Although the implementation is currently in the prototype stage, the feasibility of the work could be demonstrated. While some requirements could not be fully verified, the overall potential of implementing Wikidata: Lexicographical was showcased, highlighting its importance over the current state with two separate applications. Additionally, identified disadvantages were complemented with proposed solutions, such as local data caching to mitigate internet dependency when using the application.

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