Arab sign-language family

[4] The sentence structure of ArSLs is relatively flexible, similar to spoken and written Arabic.

[1][5] However, the introduction of ArSL has been met with backlash by the deaf community, because it is not the native sign language of any country in the region.

[1] There are also wide disparities between the vocabulary of the standardized version and the national sign languages.

[1] As a result, it is difficult for the deaf community in the Middle East to understand the Standardized version and so use it.

[1][2][4] An international survey was conducted by Hilde Haualand in 2009, which investigated the accessibility of sign language interpreters, as well as the training and support the Deaf community receives.

Regions that were investigated in the survey included Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen.

[6] Qatar was the only country in the survey that had five points, meaning they satisfied all the aforementioned five criteria relating to accessibility.

[6] Oman, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and UAE had three points, meaning they had answered "yes" to the first three questions.