In response to Mark Williamson. I have evaluated beta versions of the sign avatar programs that are available and there are some problems at the moment. 1- their vocabulary is very limited 2- adults I have shown the avatars to don't like them, kids seem to 3-- they cannot clearly express much of the facial grammar and body shifts that are of importance for ASL 4- the user must be sophisticated in translating between English and ASL to assemble the appropriate text that the avatar will turn into ASL 5- They are expensive - about $3500 for each copy of the software. (a person can now add video from their camcorder to a computer, edit , compress and upload it for much less, digital video is becoming a common tool for all to use, Sign Avatars are not) Someday the avatars may be a viable solution but not now