New handshapes for the ISWA 2010

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
September 19, 2012

Hello Steve and everyone!
Thank you for generously offering your time to work on this software addendum…

This wil be a work in progress and will take time, because the ISWA 2010 is already used around the world, in other software as well as ours, so we have to make sure that all symbols in the Addendum will fit with the current software developments…I am sure it can be done -

So SignWriting users …if there are hand symbols or facial expressions you feel are lacking in the ISWA 2010, create good artwork of the symbols you propose and send the artwork to me and Steve privately, and we will communicate with you about the symbols and then add them to the Addendum.

We are limiting this to only hand symbols and Facial Expressions - nothing more.

We do not know when such an Addendum will be available, so you may have to be patient once your symbols are submitted -

Thank you all for writing so many sign languages - and it is really an honor to realize how many people are writing with the SignWriting Script daily - Poland is blossoming, and Jordan - wow - Jordan's photos are so amazing - I will be posting a new web article about Jordan shortly -

I wonder if Jordanian Sign Language has all the hand symbols needed? (big smile)...

Val ;-)

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On Sep 18, 2012, at 7:05 AM, Steve Slevinski wrote:

> Hi Madson and list,
> 
> The core of the ISWA 2010 will not change, but we can add an addendum of new handshapes.  This will be a compatible improvement and will not change any of the existing data.
> 
> I have worked out most of the technical details to make this work. It relies on creating complex subsets of the ISWA where the symbols can be reorganized and reordered for the individual languages.  We will all still use the ISWA, we'll just be able to access them according to the default international order created by Val, or by a custom language specific order.
> 
> Adding new handshapes is not a trivial matter.  Each handshape will need to comply with all of Valerie's rules: written and unwritten.  Each new handshape will need an addition to the font that is compatible with the existing font.  So if anyone would like to propose a new handshape for the ISWA 2010, we will need someone to create the font addition and Valerie's approval and my verification of the technical details.
> 
> If anyone is interested, we can discuss how to put together a proposal for a new handshape.
> 
> New handshapes need:
> * real life picture of handshape
> * symbol ID that fits within the current ISWA hierarchy
> * English name
> * fallback handshape if new handshape is not available.
> * font Addition
> ** minimum of 12 PNGs (fills 1 thru 6, and rotations 1 & 2)
> ** eventually, 96 PNGs or 96 SVG per font.
> 
> Regards,
> -Steve
>