Scríobh Neil Harris:
ASL is most certainly a first-class language, but it _must be written_ to be usable in a text-based system like Wikipedia.
I think this is the key here. Do deaf persons in the United States actually write ASL in their everyday lives. A quick bit of Googling and research seems to indicate that there isn't even a settled orthography for ASL, so producing material in a written form seems counterproductive. Half a million people might "speak" the language on a daily basis, but if only 5% of people understand the particular form of notation that is used, it's going to be close to useless for most deaf persons. We might then run into a situation similar to the båkmal/nynorsk, or the cantonese/mandarin fiascos, in which each variant of sign language demands a seperate wiki for itself. If we allow an ASL wiki, then how can we say no to an Auslan wiki, a Gestuno wiki, an ISL wiki, etc.
Sadly, I think that sign languages can, at the present time, be only classified as being spoken and not written. If you can show me a commonly accepted written notation for ASL (that has, for example, 50%+ understanding from those who use ASL as a spoken language), that can be conceivably used on the internet, then I'll be the first to call for the wiki's creation. Unfortunately, I think this is a technical challenge that might not be possible at the present time (since SignWriting, which seems to be the most popular of the written notations, doesn't seem to have any Unicode support).
- Craig [[en:Lankiveil]]
------------------- Craig Franklin PO Box 764 Ashgrove, Q, 4060 Australia http://www.halo-17.net - Australia's Favourite Source of Indie Music, Art, and Culture.