Sign Writing

A graphical notation system for writing sign languages, developed by Valerie Sutton in 1974. Sign Writing uses visual symbols to represent hand shapes, movements, facial expressions, and body positions used in signing, enabling sign languages to be written and read in a visual format. Unlike glossing systems that approximate signs using words from spoken languages, Sign Writing captures the actual physical form of signs. It has potential applications in web accessibility as an alternative to video for representing sign language content, though its adoption remains limited as most Deaf communities have not widely adopted any written form of their sign languages.