Russian live captions and productivity tool for lectures

A national survey of Russian adults found that 22.2% reported trouble with hearing — yet only 2.2% of those people used hearing aids, one of the lowest rates in Europe and among developed countries globally (PMC10514822, 2023). People with severe and profound hearing loss can receive government-funded hearing aids through the Federal Social Fund, but the gap between those who need support and those who receive it is vast. For deaf and hard of hearing students in Russia's universities, the gap between policy and practice follows the same pattern.

A 2023 study published in Post-Soviet Affairs examined the transitions of deaf and hard of hearing youth through education and into the labour market in contemporary Russia. Despite formal inclusive education policies and legal frameworks, the researchers found that the choices available to deaf and hard of hearing young people remain 'heavily limited' and 'become narrower at each stage of their transitions to adulthood'. The study attributes this to 'the ongoing salience of disabling, medical approaches to deafness; a lack of enabling practices or resources to support DHOH youth in the education system; and widespread discrimination from employers' (Tandfonline, 2023). Russian Sign Language is recognised but not prioritised.

Russian universities operate under an inclusive education mandate that, in practice, delivers minimal in-lecture accommodation. Certified Russian Sign Language interpreters with specialist subject knowledge are rare, and real-time captioning in lecture halls is not a standard provision. A deaf student in a Russian university lecture hall encounters the same structural absence as deaf students in many countries — but with fewer civil society organisations and advocacy routes to challenge it.