So I was unwinding after work today, and I thought it’d be fun to create a little Javascript function and mobile-optimized site for changing textual words to American Sign Language. *FYI I throw stuff up on my GitHub all the time, and it doesn’t always make the blog. Everything runs on the client browser, nothing is ever sent to my server and it’s safe to embed in applications. It only took about an hour to throw together, mainly because the only public domain images are that of the manual ASL alphabet. That in itself seems like a problem somebody should do a Kickstarter to solve (seriously). Anyway you can check out the page here, and check the source out here.
For those copy-pasting on a mobile site or tablet (I didn’t use any libraries, it should run on pretty much anything), it’s www.hunterdavis.com/asljs/
This is the sort of thing I think we should all take more time to actively do. Just write some code for the heck of it, and get it out there to share. Even if it’s a little thing. Especially if it’s a little thing! You never know what will come of it, and it’s a great way to get ideas out there.
Sup. I like the program, but you should probably double check the images that pop up as some of them aren’t accurate. Like the letter “L” isn’t palm outward. You just make an “L” shape with finger and thumb. Thought you should know.
Hey,
See, this is why we need a public domain library of sign language images! I would never have known that! THanks!
Have you considered just using the cc-licensed wikipedia fingerspelling image?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aslfingerspellalpha.png
Also, you may want to use the word fingerspelling ALS rather than just ASL here. actual ASL would require a *lot* more effort.
Good call yeah, I’ve been wanting to do the full ASL and release it public domain for teachers but it’s all about the time required.
This is a neat idea but I think it would be easier to catch the signs if we could see all the letters at once. It’s pretty hard to remember if you just see one hand at a time!
Hey Remo,
That’s a good idea. I’ll see if I can’t get something happening with HTML5 transforms to show all the letters on a canvas.