After exceeding 75 thousand downloads of the application for tablets and smartphones, ProDeaf, a startup from Pernambuco, launches a web version of the first free Portuguese translator for Libras.
To use, just have a computer with Internet access and a Facebook account, access link www.web.prodeaf.net and install the plug in indicated by the company. From there, when typing a simple word or phrase in the indicated location, a character performs the translation to Libras on the computer screen.
Among the available resources, the highlight is the possibility of sharing words or phrases in Libras, directly on Facebook - which facilitates communication between listeners and deaf people and also favors the dissemination of the country's second official language.
Like ProDeaf Mobile - an application for tablets and smartphones that already counts more than 75 thousand downloads - ProDeaf Web works based on a dictionary of more than 3,000 signals. Thus, in addition to translating the words typed, the system also allows you to consult terms in alphabetical order or even by several categories - animals, work, food and politics, among others.
"In Brazil, most people still use feature phones; not smartphones. That's why we receive daily orders asking for a way to access ProDeaf information in another way, other than via a cell phone," says João Paulo Oliveira, ProDeaf CEO.
The development of ProDeaf took two years and counted on the participation of 12 professionals, including designers, interpreters, linguists and programmers, in addition to deaf employees of Bradesco Seguros Group companies. "The deaf community also acted, providing us with feedback so that we could arrive at this new product", he explains.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Bradesco Seguros, the new ProDeaf Web is available free of charge, as well as the other versions of ProDeaf Mobile.
According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there are about 10 million deaf people in Brazil, 2.7 million of whom do not know the Portuguese language. Thus, ProDeaf Mobile is useful, precisely to eliminate the communication barrier that exists between listeners and deaf people - especially between people of the same social life, such as relatives and friends.
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