If you’ve been looking into signing to support communication, you may have come across both Makaton and Signalong. Perhaps your child’s school uses one, while another service offers training in the other.
It’s understandable to wonder how they differ. Some signs look the same, and both approaches support communication. But there are differences worth understanding, particularly when someone relies on signs to understand others and express themselves.
I’m writing from my experience as a Makaton tutor and my understanding of Signalong’s published information. This article explores the similarities and differences, and what they mean for the people using signs to communicate.
What do they have in common?
In the UK, both Makaton and Signalong draw signs from British Sign Language (BSL). Both use signs alongside speech, in spoken word order, with facial expression and body language helping to convey meaning.
They are distinct from BSL, which is a language with its own grammar.
Both approaches teach people to look carefully at the components of a sign: the handshape, where it is made, how the hands and fingers are orientated, and how they move.
Signalong places particular emphasis on its consistent written descriptions, helping people reproduce signs accurately and access new vocabulary.
Makaton also teaches these components, referred to as cheremes, and acknowledges the work of sign language linguist William Stokoe. Within Makaton, sign analysis can also help us record a person’s signing, recognise progress and better understand their communication.
Although the way signs are described and presented may differ, attention to their component features is a shared foundation.
How does Makaton work?
Makaton is a communication programme that brings together signs, symbols and speech. It can be used through functional, key word and full grammatical approaches, according to individual need.
A functional approach may use one sign or symbol to convey a whole message. A key word approach highlights the important words within a sentence. A full grammatical approach represents the words and grammatical information more fully.
These are ways of adapting communication to the person, rather than a ladder everyone is expected to climb.
Makaton’s Core Vocabulary provides a structured foundation of useful everyday concepts. A wider Resource Vocabulary provides additional signs and symbols for interests, activities and experiences.
That structure supports learning, while allowing communication to be personalised. Someone’s own priorities and interests still matter.
Symbols are an integral part of Makaton. They provide another way to support understanding and expression, including for people who cannot or prefer not to sign.
How does Signalong work?
Signalong describes itself as a key word signing system used alongside speech. It provides sign vocabulary across a range of topics, with written descriptions and illustrations explaining how to produce the signs.
Its approach allows people to select vocabulary according to need. It also offers training and guidance on using signing to support communication.
Although its stated approach is key word signing, some of its published resources include grammatical vocabulary. Describing it as a key word system should therefore not be taken to mean that its resources contain no grammatical signs.
Signalong focuses on signing. People using it may also use pictures, symbols or other communication support, but that is different from Makaton’s provision of signs and symbols within one programme.
What about “one sign per concept”?
Signalong describes its approach as “one concept per sign, one sign per concept”, contrasting this with other BSL-based systems. That wording can leave readers with the impression that current Makaton does not distinguish between concepts.
There is some history worth understanding here. Early Makaton used the same sign for some distinct concepts, such as BED and SLEEP, or FOOD and EAT. These were separated when the Core Vocabulary was revised.
Those early examples should therefore not be presented as differences between the current approaches.
It is also useful to distinguish a concept from a spoken word. Different words can express a shared meaning, while the same word can have several meanings. When choosing a sign, we need to consider the meaning we want to communicate.
Why does it matter which one you use?
Some signs overlap, but you cannot assume that every sign will be the same in both systems.
If someone learns a sign at school, they need people at home and in other settings to recognise it. Equally, the signs adults model need to connect with the person’s established communication.
That does not mean exposure to different signs automatically causes confusion. It means the people supporting someone need to understand what they already use and work together.
If home and school use different approaches, compare the vocabulary the person actually needs. Identify any differences and agree how everyone will support their communication. A shared record of familiar signs can be useful.
The responsibility for making communication work should be shared by the people supporting the individual.
Familiar communication should travel with the person
I know of adult services choosing Signalong when the schools in their area use Makaton. I would urge services to consider continuity before commissioning training.
Moving into adult services can mean new people, new places and new routines. If someone arrives already understanding and using Makaton, staff need to recognise and support that communication.
Before choosing an approach, services should find out what the people they support already use. Speak with them, their families and the education settings or professionals who know their communication.
The same principle applies whichever approach someone uses. A service’s choice should be informed by the person’s communication, rather than expecting the person to adapt to the service’s choice.
Familiar signs are part of someone’s established way of understanding and expressing themselves. That deserves consideration when planning a transition.
Where should you start?
Check which approach a book, video or course teaches. Familiar-looking signs do not guarantee that all its vocabulary matches the system you use.
Training can help you understand how to use signing in everyday communication, as well as how to produce individual signs.
If you are choosing an approach for a family, school or service, start by finding out what the person already understands and uses. Consider their communication needs, the resources available and how the people around them will learn and maintain their skills.
As a Makaton tutor, I value its combination of signs and symbols and its structured, flexible approach. I also want families and services to understand the differences clearly.
The choice matters because communication happens between people. Whatever approach someone uses, the people around them need to understand it, use it themselves and support them to communicate about the things that matter to them.
About the author
Nic Pike is Director of Better Communication Together CIC and a Licensed Makaton Tutor and Tutor Training Facilitator. She writes about Makaton, accessible communication and inclusive practice, drawing on over 40 years' professional experience and lived experience as a parent of a Makaton user.
© 2026 Better Communication Together CIC. All rights reserved.
This article is provided for personal learning and information. Please link to this page rather than copying or republishing the content.
Tags: