SignPoster Tutorial 2: Typing Handshapes

About SignPoster

SignPoster is a temporary name we are using for posting demonstrations of the software in order to receive feedback on the keying system and related issues. This feedback is important to help us provide the kind of interface users will be happy with, but it doesn't necessarily perform any useful functions. Once we have a useful SignWriting editor we'll change the name.

Tutorial

Make sure you have the software downloaded. If not, you can download it now.

Work your way through the following steps to see all the keying features provided by the demonstration.

Click on the program icon to run either the executable binary or the program source.
You should see a window open with a little stick man of sorts in it. This is not part of the sign you will be typing, it's just a background to guide you with positioning the hands and suchlike.

Note: this tutorial uses the 36 letter keyboard, which is already selected when the program starts up. But if you have been experimenting or doing other tutorials, select "Keyboards" from the menu bar and selecting the "ASL 36" option to make sure you have the right keyboard selected.

This turorial explains how the 36-key keyboard works for handshapes.

On this keyboard 36 keys are used for typing handshapes: the letters a-z and the numbers 0-9. Captial letters are not used, as we want to keep these for typing movements, so make sure your Caps-Lock key is off during this tutorial!

The Number Keys

The keys 1-9 are used for typing handshapes as they're used in ASL for representing these numbers:

type 1 to get

Now press the "Delete" key to delete the sign before going on to type each of the following keypresses. This is necessary for this tutorial because typing two keypresses in a row produces a completely different handshape, as we will learn later!

type 2 to get

type 3 to get

type 4 to get

type 5 to get

type 6 to get

type 7 to get

type 8 to get

type 9 to get

These have nothing to do with typing actual number hands - they're just an easy way of remembering which keypresses type which handshapes. This is why the orientation isn't as you might expect for signing actual numbers.

The zero key is an exception, it simply types the oval handshape:

type 0 to get

The Letter Keys

Most of the letter keys a-z type the handshape which would be used to fingerspell that letter. This is nothing to do with fingerspelling, it's just an easy way of remembering the keypresses used to type these handshapes:

type a to get

type b to get

type c to get

type d to get

type e to get

type g to get

type i to get

type k to get

type l to get

type m to get

type n to get

type o to get

type q to get

type r to get

type s to get

type t to get

type u to get

type x to get

type y to get

but a few of these are exceptions and just have to be learned:

type f to get

type h to get

type j to get

type p to get

type v to get

type w to get

type z to get

The Combination Keys

This gives us 36 handshapes that we can type with a single keypress. But for ASL we need to be able to type at least 80 handshapes, so the rest are typed as two keypresses. We still use the letter and number keys.

How does this work? Well, firstly you press a key to get a basic handshape, for example:

type 1 to get

then we press another key which modifies the handshape in some way:

type c to get

You see how typing '1' gives the index handshape as you might expect, then typing 'c', which is the keypress for the 'cup' handshape, gives you the index-cup handshape, as is logical.

Let's try the same idea to produce the two-finger cup handshape :

type 2 to get

type c to get

What if we want the two-bent-fingers handshape? Well, the 'x' keypress gives a bent finger as you might expect from your fingerspelling, so this is what is used to bend the fingers for basic handshapes:

type 2 to get

type x to get

The '3' key is the most complicated key on the keyboard: it uses almost all the modification keys we need to learn! So lets go through them one by one.

type 3 to get

type c to get (the c key cups the fingers)

type 3 to get

type x to get (the x key bends the fingers)

type 3 to get

type l to get (the l key makes the thumb stick out to the side)

type 3 to get

type o to get (the o key makes the fingers into a circle)

type 3 to get

type u to get (the u key makes the fingers into a unit)

type 3 to get

type q to get (the q key hinges the fingers)

type 3 to get

type k to get (the k key angles the fingers)

This tells you most of what you need to know to master typing handshapes. Let's make our way up through the number fingers to see how they all work. As you type each one think about how the modifiers work by thinking about the handshape these keys would normally type:

type 4 to get

type x to get