The WLDC SW Project

Thu Jan 3 22:03:04 UTC 2008

Hi everyone,

Valerie has suggested I explain what this is all about so I shall try to do
so as briefly as possible leaving any details to your follow up questions.

First, we are looking for the funding to perform the project properly and
not as something people need to do in their spare time (especially since
no-one has any :-))

Second we all discussed with Val, Steve and others what seemed like a good
plan for a major project and, whilst much of this remains as agreed te plan
to use an application here in the UK as a start has taken two diversionary
steps.

The first is that we have the chance of obtaining good funding for a WLDC SW
project which I believe also forces us into a good project objective - the
Western Counties of Wales working in collaboration with the South Eastern
part of Ireland on aspects of the original project intentions. If we are
successful with that bid it will mean that one of the project objectives
common to all applications will have been achieved - Michael Everson will be
properly funded to do the main work on preparing the SW symbol/character set
to be ready for encoding in the ISO Unicode Standard. We are busy obtaining
the Partners needed and writing up the project for submission by January
18th - this is the first deadline, I am not sure we are going to make that
date but we will try to do so and certainly be ready for the second.

The second involves local activities to engage Signing communities in
individual countries to raise the take-up of SW by users and learners of the
local SL. The original plan was to track down and enlist BSL users who also
had experience of SW to help carry the message to others within the UK.
Whilst it is the wrong time of the year for much by way of communication,
being a hearing newcomer I have been surprised to find that the current take
up of SW for BSL is probably countable on one hand and so far I have only
had contact with one - Sandy Fleming, who with Val is the main contributor
to the BSL SW sign dictionary. I have also only had one response to a call
for interest in participation by local SW communities and support agencies
and none for funding purposes. What this means in the UK and any other
country where take up has notyet begun to take off, that the project has to
start a bit further back up the track. I.e. we need to get funding just to
recruit the groups in the first place who I am now hoping will learn about
SW and how to use it for communicating in BSL and once they are a little way
down the track begin to be a good source for additions to the BSL
dictionary. It will be a start for the spread of the good news (Can I also
thank the people who wrote the letters of recommendation and of course Val
for putting them out - I think this is very timely for our hopes for funding
).

Anyway I now add the shortest description of our project intentions for your
information

Title - The World Language Documentation Centre's SignWriting Project for
Enhancing Literacy and Education among the Deaf and signing communities of
the World (or WLDC SW Project)   

The overall project aims to achieve at least the following goals 

1)      To contribute significantly towards universal capability of signing
communities of the world to read, write and participate in everyday literary
life in their own first language by

a)      recruiting country based schools, colleges, universities and other
agencies providing Deaf and Hard of Hearing facilities to bring together
groups of local users of the local SL, preferably including parents,
children, teachers and where appropriate, carers to work together in
learning about and how to read and write their local SL using the SW  system
with help from the Center for Sutton Movement Writing (CSMW).
It is expected that these groups will also be a good source for additions to
the local SL Sign word dictionary 

b)      raising public awareness and active participation in the WLDC SW
Project through a country based WLDC SW Sign-Word Appeal whereby donors
"buy" a personalised "word" of their choice in SW script and donor
customised details, eg the word "love" in ASL gives the SW sign

c)      encoding the SW script (sgnw) in a Character Set of the Unicode
Standard 

d)      developing innovative applications for integration of sign language
text into mainstream multimedia, multimodal, multi-lingual, mobile,
multi-channel and multi-inclusionary communication (7Ms)

e)      identification of recognised Sign Language variants used in each
country for entry to the ISO 639-6 database for language varieties as well
as any resulting need for aditional symbols/characters

f)       dissemination of information to industry regarding the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing community needs and provision in relation to SW. Links will
be established, in particular with the translation and software industries,
to be ready for the provision of professional translation and localization
services.  

2)      To significantly raise public understanding of the potential for
benefits-for-all when literary capability of the Deaf and other signing
communities becomes widespread among that community and translatable into
other languages and where necessary supporting campaigns for legal or other
recognition of the country based sign languages in  the same way as the
hearing language or languages of the country.   

The WLDC SW Project

This is to be a "meta-project" consisting of 

o        Workpackages to be performed for common application. These WPs are
performed by the WLDC for overall WLDC SW project purposes and in some cases
wider benefit. 

o        Workpackages to be performed by a National or Regional Team under
WLDC auspices and where requested, with WLDC assistance. This recognises the
likelihood of local country or regional variation having to be catered for
and local country or regional expertise being more likely to be effective
and efficient in achieving the WP goals.  

Any comment and certainly experiential advice or correction of
misapprehension welcomed.

Best regards

Chris 

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