This report of research in progress introduces the project: Literacy development with deaf communities using sign language, peer tuition, and learner-generated online content: Sustainable educational innovation. The rationale, aims, and participatory approach to learning and teaching English literacy to deaf learners in India are described. Deaf learners are particularly marginalised in the mainstream educational systems of developing countries. This project responds through designing a participatory, peer tutor system addressing the ethnographic identification of authentic literacy needs. A virtual/mobile learning platform, Sign Language to English by the Deaf (SLEND) is used for sharing learning materials as they are created and to host assessment and other resources. The project includes deaf researchers in Ghana and Uganda as well as India, with the aim of generating sustainable approaches to developing this work.