Digital Technologies for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: a Systematic Review, Critical Reflections, and Future Research Directions

Digital technologies in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) have the potential to support the development and well-being of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children. Yet, there has yet to be a systematic review of the field. A shared understanding of current research is needed to develop a future vision. In this review, we analyzed 42 papers from the ACM Digital Library and the top 20 HCI Conferences and Journals, spanning the past 24 years, to investigate the trends, methods, and the level of inclusion of DHH children. Our review reveals that sign language learning platforms dominate the current technological effort. Moreover, children are not yet fully involved in the design process of these technologies and are mostly considered users and testers.We also capture a gap in integrating Deaf culture and child development in prior research. We conclude by critically examining literature gaps and offering guidance for future research.