[Wikipedia-l] Request for ASL/English

[HHamilto at doe.k12.ga.us]

Here are some facts you should know about American Sign Language to help
with the discussion. It is a signed language (a great deal of research has
been done to determine this) and does not have a commonly used writing
system
Approximate number of speakers: 500,00
o     Location(s) spoken: American Sign Language is the dominant sign
language in the United States, English-speaking Canada and parts of Mexico.
It is also used in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Côte d'Ivoire,
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Gabon, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Kenya, Madagascar,
Zimbabwe.
o     Closely related languages, if any: French Sign Language
o     External links to organizations that promote the language:

               National Association of the Deaf www.nad.org ,


            Canadian Association of the Deaf, http://www.cad.ca


            American Society for Deaf Children www.deafchildren.org


            Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf  http://www.ccsdeaf.com/


            American Sign Language Teachers of America
            www.rit.edu/~asltawww ,


            Center for Accessible Technology in Sign, www.aasdweb.com/CATS
            .



        You should also know:

        The average deaf adult reads at about the 4th grade level
        http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Literacy/#reading . Thus much of the
        internet  and encyclopedias in general are inaccessible to these
        users due to the level of reading required. A survey of the
        readability of internet sites showed popular sites such a the NY
        Times and Nickelodeon were above 4th grade level (
        www.readability.info). The article on cats from Wikipedia receives
        the following scores

        Readability report for The cat in wikipedia.doc
            readability grades:
                    Kincaid: 11.0
                    ARI: 12.2
                    Coleman-Liau: 13.4
                    Flesch Index: 52.5
                    Fog Index: 14.4
                    Lix: 49.1 = school year 9
                    SMOG-Grading: 12.8
            As you can see these are all well above the 4th grade level.
Although simple.wikipedia.org strives to provide a version of English that
is easier to read it does not totally meet the needs of deaf users. The
readability of the “cat” article in simple wikipedia hovers at or slightly
above the 4th grade level on 2 measures of readability and is above 7th
grade on 3 measures of readability.

        Readability report for A cat in simple wikipedia.doc
            readability grades:
                    Kincaid: 4.6
                    ARI: 3.9
                    Coleman-Liau: 7.7
                    Flesch Index: 85.4
                    Fog Index: 7.4
                    Lix: 27.0 = below school year 5
                    SMOG-Grading: 7.7
To make information accessible to all deaf users sign language video is
necessary that accompanies the English text. An ASL-English bilingual
Wikipedia would provide deaf users with a tool for not only acquiring
general world knowledge via an accessible medium (sign language video) but
also a powerful educational tool for enhancing literacy by being able to
compare the ASL video and English text.
An ASL-English Wikipedia will also provide deaf students with a national
project that all students can contribute to while producing their everyday
reports for their classes in Social Studies, Science, etc… It will be a
great motivator for  students to produce a product that is actually of use
to others and a great lesson for them to learn that their labor can help
others. It will be a source of pride in the deaf community. A deaf fly
fisherman in Montana may produce a signed article/video on trout and it
will be in a medium (sign language video) that is comprehensible by the
500,000 users of American Sign Language.