SWift -- A SignWriting editor to bridge between deaf world and e-learning
This work addresses accessibility challenges for deaf users in ICT and e-learning by providing a tool to bridge communication gaps, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing SignWriting methods.
The authors tackled the problem of electronic barriers for the deaf community in e-learning by developing SWift, an advanced SignWriting editor that simplifies composing and saving signs using glyphs, enabling easier creation of accessible documents.
SWift (SignWriting improved fast transcriber) is an advanced editor for SignWriting (SW). At present, SW is a promising alternative to provide documents in an easy-to-grasp written form of (any) Sign Language, the gestural way of communication which is widely adopted by the deaf community. SWift was developed SW users, either deaf or not, to support collaboration and exchange of ideas. The application allows composing and saving desired signs using elementary components, called glyphs. The procedure that was devised guides and simplifies the editing process. SWift aims at breaking the "electronic" barriers that keep the deaf community away from ICT in general, and from e-learning in particular. The editor can be contained in a pluggable module; therefore, it can be integrated everywhere the use of SW is an advisable alternative to written "verbal" language, which often hinders information grasping by deaf users.