Profile banner
Austin Vaday

Austin Vaday

Building something new — software engineer focused on ASL accessibility

Seattle, Washington
about
San Francisco, California
Joined July 2026
Favicon imageabout.meFavicon imagelinkedin.comFavicon imagegithub.com

Network

2.4K connections

Summary

ASL advocacy and accessibility: Austin is a Deaf engineer and content creator who has built public-facing initiatives to teach and normalize American Sign Language, including founding Signs For Humanity and serving as a visible Deaf contributor on Snap's ASL Lenses. about+3
Product engineering in AR and consumer platforms: At Snap he contributed engineering and accessibility expertise to AR Lenses (fingerspelling and ASL Alphabet), helping bridge machine perception, hand-tracking, and linguistic accuracy for sign-language experiences. snap+2
Founder and technical builder: He co-founded Aquaint and served as CTO, building web and mobile technology while still a student, demonstrating early entrepreneurial drive and full-stack technical capabilities. startupucla+2
Public communicator and storyteller: Austin has used public speaking (TEDxUCLA), long-form writing (Medium), and social video to explain lived experience as a Deaf person and to teach ASL to broader audiences. ted+2

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Sign language is my superpower

January 1, 2018

TEDxUCLA talk describing Austin's personal experience becoming deaf, learning ASL, founding Signs For Humanity, and advocating for broader awareness of sign languages and Deaf culture.

Favicon imageted.com

I Lost My Hearing (That Is, I Became Deaf) When I Was Three Years Old

March 1, 2017

Personal profile / Medium article recounting Austin's experience losing hearing, learning ASL, balancing school and startup work, and founding Signs For Humanity and Aquaint.

Favicon imagemedium.com

Patents related to ASL/AR and wearable/AR experiences (inventor on Snap patents)

2024-2025

Listed as an inventor/assignee on patents assigned to Snap Inc. relating to AR experiences, fingerspelling text entry, and eyewear/AR audio features.

Favicon imagepatents.justia.com

Hobbies

Plays basketball and practices weightlifting. medium

Creates and shares sign-language educational content online. about+1