Austrian Sign Language

There are almost 10,000 deaf people living in Austria who use Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS) as their first language. Through their work, ÖGS translators enable barrier-free communication between deaf and hearing people and thus make a significant contribution to inclusion and equal and respectful participation.

ÖGS is taught at the institute by a mixed team of deaf and hearing teachers. While the Bachelor's program focuses on language acquisition and teaching the cultural and social characteristics of the language community, students on the Master's program learn the skills and strategies of interpreting and/or translating through targeted exercises in a wide variety of areas, such as education, public offices/authorities, medicine, the workplace and many more.

Students can also expect an exciting field of research, as ITAT Graz is the only institution in Austria where sign language interpreting can be studied at Master's level and where lively research is carried out with various focal points.