The ASL Signbank is primarily an annotation tool meant to be used by fluent ASL users to make ASL videos machine-readable, preferably through using the ASL Signbank ECV link in ELAN. You may also use entry information, including videos and images. Please cite us in your shared work. See citation below.
You are welcome to re-use and share the images and videos on this website. Terms are as follows...
Please be sure to acknowledge us as the source by doing all of the following:
1) Use the in-text citation of (ASL Signbank, 2024) each time you include a picture from the ASL Signbank
2) Use the full reference at the end of your work
Julie A. Hochgesang, Onno Crasborn, and Diane Lillo-Martin. (2024) ASL Signbank. New Haven, CT: Haskins Lab, Yale University. https://aslsignbank.haskins.yale.edu/
(note, the year is updated each year. If you've cited from an earlier version, that's fine. We've been online since 2017. Also do reformat citation using your preferred style guide format)
3) Please use our watermarked images (the ASL Signbank logo shows up in the top left part of the image) in your publications - you can download that directly from the entry by right-clicking on the image (or you may request a high-quality version from Julie Hochgesang).
If it is not convenient to use the original size of our photographs in your publications (e.g., you want to crop to focus on a certain aspect of the picture and it's not easy to incorporate the watermark), you may crop the images but upon first mention of the ASL Signbank in your work, you need to add a full-size picture with the watermark included in the top left when you introduce it then thereafter you may show cropped images without the watermarked logo (but these must have the in-text citation as explained in step 1).
4) If you're using a video, please add a direct weblink when you share the video
Please note that there are no watermarks in our videos, you can share the video by:
* linking directly to the ASL Signbank entry (copy and paste the address in the URL box when you’re in the entry)
* right-clicking on the video and saving that to your computer (note that is a very compressed version ideal for websites)
* contacting Julie Hochgesang to request a high-quality version video
5) Please do not use any draft image or video in your disseminated work. Drafts are those that are not produced using the teal background. These drafts are visible to registered users who log in.
Unsure how to use ASL Signbank images or videos for commercial use?
Please note that you are allowed to use, share and re-use the information on ASL Signbank in accordance with Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) which states that the material cannot be re-used for commercial purposes. We understand that some people may want to use the images and videos in their published work which may be for profit. We will allow such use as long as the material is properly cited and does not constitute more than 5 to 10 percent of the work (roughly 1-3 pictures per 1000 words). Please do contact us if you are unsure how to comply.
"Data is central to empirical linguistic research. Linguistic data comes in many different forms, and is collected and processed with a wide range of methods. Data citation recognizes the centrality of data to research. Furthermore, it facilitates verification of claims and repurposing of data for other studies" preamble of the Austin Principles of Data Citation