Student Fundraises For App Helping Hearing-Impaired Watch Movies

PLAINFIELD, IL — An app exists that helps people with hearing impairments watch movies, and a Plainfield East High School student and president of the American Sign Language club is raising awareness and money for it.

Through SignUp, a free Google Chrome extension, kids and adults can watch movies on Disney+ that are overlayed with ASL interpretting. A person signing appears in a small box in the corner of the screen while a video plays.

Plainfield East senior Brooke Scott came across the app and soon began fundraising through the club. She contacted the app's creator and subsequently organized a bake sale and raffle to begin raising money, according to a news release from Plainfield School District 202.

"I really want to make a positive impact on the deaf and hard of hearing communities because of the injustice that deaf people and many others face," she said in a statement.

SignUp was released last August and continues to increase the number of Disney+ videos available with ASL captions. Currently, the selection includes 14 movies, from "Moana" and "Frozen" to "The Incredibles" and "Toy Story."

Scott — who plans to attend the University of South Florida and double major in ASL interpreting and environmental studies — is looking to raise $2,500 for the program, according to the release.

"This app should have always existed," Scott said.

Cortney Troy, Plainfield East American Sign Language teacher and ASL Club sponsor, lauded Scott for her initiative.

"I love seeing the passion with her," she said in a statement. "She’s very excited and hopefully it will inspire other students to do positive things."

To make a donation, people interested can donate to a GoFundMe campaign started in August 2021 by SignUp's developer.

"The response to SignUp has been overwhelming since I launched it a couple of days ago," reads the campaign description. "There have been thousands of visitors to the website, hundreds of likes on social media posts and dozens of emails."

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.