The Rules Came First: New Zealand’s Sign Language Board Tells AI Who Decides
A warning on Sunday The story ran on Te Ao Māori News, the news service of Whakaata Māori, under the reporter Riria Dalton-Reedy. Two women did the talking,...
Deaf-Led · Governance · Policy · Technology
Between the vendor’s claim and the institution’s signature.
Novara Consulting Group helps public agencies, universities, health systems, nonprofits, and technology buyers evaluate whether AI accessibility tools are trustworthy, governable, and fit for real-world use before they are purchased, deployed, or publicly endorsed.
Insights
Analysis & Briefings
Human Review, Optional: Deaf AI and the Airport Sign Language Pitch
The announcement you cannot hear I am DeafBlind, and I know the airport moment by heart. The gate area goes quiet in that particular way. Heads tilt toward...
The Guidance Is Gone but the Statute Is Not: AI, Disability, and Employment Decisions After the January 2025 Withdrawals
A video interview with no captions The complainant is known in the filings as D.K. She is Deaf and Indigenous. She started at Intuit as a seasonal tax...
What we do
Trust Evaluation
Snapshots and full assessments of AI accessibility products: evidence-graded findings tied to a specified use.
Procurement & Governance
Specification language, evaluation criteria, contract terms, and acceptance testing for AI purchases.
Briefings & Monitoring
Executive briefings for boards and commissions, plus ongoing surveillance of vendors, claims, and policy.
Training & Licensing
Workshops, curricula, and licensed toolkits for procurement teams and accessibility offices.
The problem we exist to solve
Procurement Is Outrunning the Evidence
Institutions are buying AI-mediated accessibility (AI interpreting, signing avatars, automated captioning, language access tools) faster than their governance instruments can evaluate it. A conformance report describes whether an interface works with assistive technology. It says nothing about whether a Deaf user can understand the output, whether the system fails safely in an emergency room, or whether the training data was collected with consent.
That is the seat we occupy, and it takes three things to hold it: the linguistic competence to evaluate the output, the procurement competence to translate findings into contract terms, and the independence to say when the evidence is not there.
Deaf-led and community-accountable · Procurement-literate · Method-documented · We do not publish findings about organizations that pay us.
Start a consultationThree pillars
Governance & assurance
The SLAT Index™
Our published trust framework for sign language AI has grown into its own home. Five trust domains, 11 criteria, 54 indicators. Ratings computed from evidence, not negotiated from marketing.
Visit slatindex.org →
Policy & public data
NDEDI
The National Deaf Education Data Index: a 51-jurisdiction reference on deaf education in the United States, built state by state from primary sources. Sourced claims only; gaps documented as findings.
Explore NDEDI →
Accessible technology
Auxentia
Our accessible technology brand: apps for navigation, daily living, workplace accommodations, and play, plus the @learn self-teach platform, with enterprise and agency licensing beyond the App Store.
Visit auxentia.org →