ASSEMBLY questions for the first and deputy first ministers are to be accompanied by live signing in an effort to make Stormont proceedings more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing.
The pilot project will begin next Monday December 13 and will run until the end of the current mandate in March.
The assembly said both British and Irish sign language will be included, while recordings of the Executive Office question time will also be subtitled and available on playback.
Assembly staff are to hold regular meetings with representatives from the deaf and hard of hearing community over the coming weeks to review how the project is working.
Speaker Alex Maskey said question time was an "essential part of our democratic process where MLAs can directly question ministers".
"It is at the heart of the assembly’s role in holding ministers to account and therefore crucial that it is accessible to all of our citizens," he said.
Mr Maskey said the assembly had a "long-standing commitment to making our work as accessible as possible to all parts of our community".
"Introducing live sign language for questions to the first minister and deputy first minister in this pilot is a demonstration of how seriously we take this obligation," he said.
"Learning from this experience will leave the assembly better placed to consider how to meet the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing in the longer term."
First Minister Paul Givan and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill appear alternately for oral questions on a Monday every other week.
