Deaf Matters 2.0

[sarcasmo@fuse.net]

On Wed, 22 Aug 2001 s.livingstone@btinternet.com wrote

(snip)
> I was just thinking that things related to accessibility may fit in the
HumanML. (snip) My difficulty just now is trying to think of exactly what
would *be* in HumanML and that is mainly because i only started looking into
it yesterday :)>
> Steven

My original post (much editing and paraphrasing myself):

> I find the concept of HumanML interesting, and it led me to wonder
> if any discussions about Deaf users (such as myself) has appeared
> on the lists.  I say 'unusual', because American Sign Language isn't
> textually based.

The more i think about this, the more of a brain buster it becomes.
In fact, I may have jumped the gun by posting to this list at all,
since I must put forward that any representation of the Deaf would
probably be an incredible failure due to this factor: text.

I'm fortunate that I was able to overcome the language barrier and
develop skills in written and spoken English. Without turning this into
an off-topic post about 'My Life' I want to explore this avenue, surely.
Suffice to say, any textually-based language to the deaf usually ends
up being ... low on their list.

So, what to do?  Iconic representation? Mapping common ASL signs through
an DTD or XML construct to embedded graphics?  I fear that I may be too
stupid to come up with an alternative.  All I know, is that I should not
expect to have some sort of 'broken' or 'pidgin' written language as the
base and even hope for the best.  I must break with tradition.  It just
seems to me than HumanML could be a 'base' to build on.  I don't know.

Just a thawt.

~darren