Oxford’s CANCAN Productions has helped Sister Kathleen Schipani develop one of the first apps for deaf people that uses religious terminology, writes Kristin Holmes for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Schipani, Director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Deaf Apostolate, saw the need for an app that would help families with deaf children by teaching them how to pray and discuss faith using sign language.

She turned to CANCAN for help in developing the app, since she already knew the company’s co-owners Catherine Miller and Ann Calamia. The result is Religious Signs for Families, which gives visual interpretations for religious concepts such as prayer and blessings.

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In the app, 20 people, 13 of them children, sign both religious words and simple prayers. All the signs are captioned and voiced in both English and Spanish.

“When parents go to community programs to learn sign, they are not learning religious signing,” said Schipani.

Now, she hopes to develop more apps following the success of Religious Signs for Families, which is available on iPhone and Android for $2.99.

Read more about the app in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

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