Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Deaf/Archive 1

Open forum
I want to encourage collaboration so I propose to use this talk page for a general discussion of who we are, what we are interested in doing on wikipedia, and how we can use this project.

As for me, I'm Australian, hearing, and an accredited interpreter (though I don't work as one much at the moment). I just did an overhaul of the cochlear implant article. Like everything I've done here, it still needs work! I've got a bunch of notes for other articles, such as manual alphabet and especially the dauntingly large sign language linguistics which I would be more keen to start on if I had a collaborator!

I would also love to see more images on sign language pages. Anyone have a digital camera? ntennis 03:58, 4 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I second having more images on sign language pages. Simply describing them is like describing swimming, rather unhelpful. Deaf culture and language are such a big topic to cover. I'm not sure where to start. Making the WikiProject official sounds like a good idea, and would probably be more visible for people looking to contribute.


 * I would love to see how sign language linguistics turn out. I'm not sure I'm qualified for being a collaborator, but I can talk to some people and have them either participate or refer me to the texts on linguistics, but probably ASL specifically. I've read that most sign languages seem to share the same basic structure of Object-Subject-Verb, so that should make trying to corral all the sign languages together less difficult.


 * What are the examples of other projects that have been brought to fruition? It may help get some ideas of what we can do. We can cover literature and arts, historical figures, Deaflympics, linguistics, as well as the diversity of people. --Lux 06:21, 15 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I am more than willing to contribute to an official project, but I don't believe I have ever participated in an official WikiProject before so I'm not sure what's needed to get off the ground. Just for my own credentials, I am a nationally certified sign language (ASL) interpreter and have been signing most of my life (but not a CODA). -Etoile 19:20, 15 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I would just be echoing the words written above by Etoile as I haven't done much on Wikipedia, much less contributed to an official WikiProject. However to follow Etoile's lead, I know very basic Auslan, having completed one course in November 2005.  -samh004 06:46, 16 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm excited this is getting rolling. These articles have been in need of revision for a long time.  As for me, I've got a moderate background in ASL, Deaf culture, and Linguistics (and, ironically, editing), but not much experience on Wikipedia (and I'm up to my ears in work in real life. :P ).  I'd be more than happy to throw in some really good source material or work on copyediting, but as for the actual write-up, I don't think I'll be much help.  Sorry :(  --Cathryn 20:44, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Someone messaged me about trying to expand the article on CODA because s/he noticed I was affiliated with sign language. Well, that's really helpful because I didn't think about CODA, just that they're children of Deaf parents. On the other hand, I do know some notable CODAs in the United States. --Lux 00:35, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back. I am totally up for making our little project official! However, I still don’t think we have quite enough people for the magnanimity of what our Project entails. I would also like to see some more people with very strong experience and knowledge of both sides of the D/deaf spectrum. But let’s do it! Hopefully as we become more and more public, more people will start joining. I will begin to look into acquiring photos and videos to add. Good luck, everyone! P.S.- ntennis, do you know how to make us a full fledged Project? Because I don't off the top of my head (but I could find out very quickly). Gaep13(talk) 03:38, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Well it's at least half-fledged now (see note below). I agree with your assessment. Let's put it out there and hope it gains momentum. ntennis 04:16, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I'd like to join and contribute as well. My name is Jason and I was born Deaf, raised in a Deaf family. I have a Deaf brother and I am married and I have three young boys, of whom are all deaf, as well as my wife. I graduated from Indiana School for the Deaf in Indianapolis, Indiana. I read Wikipedia a lot; however, this is my first time actually editing and writing, so please bear with me. I do hope you all will welcome me and allow me to participate in getting this major project completed. Thank you! --jrw7 22:03, 23 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Many times welcome! I am very happy that we can have some actual Deaf input in here, and I look forward to any contributions you will have!  Please let me know if you have any questions on anything; I would be glad to help. Gaep13(talk) 03:42, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Films
I'd love to see an expansion (and creation) of articles of films with sign language in them. Johnny Belinda and Children of a Lesser God are both good examples. Specifically, are they "good" portrayals of ASL/Deaf culture? Also, perhaps we could create a new category or article, something like list of Deaf films --Micahbrwn 09:14, 12 February 2006 (UTC)


 * That is a great idea. I think a list of films and literature should go on the Deaf culture page. ntennis 04:16, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Deaf Schools
I'd also like to see a category or subcategory (unsure) with a list of all Deaf schools in the U.S. as well as in other countries. It's a fantastic idea as well for all Deaf schools to have their own article. We could briefly explain the history, location, education, and such, as well as list statistics (such as number of students, etc.). What do you think? --jrw7 20:11, 23 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea. I'll add it to the Tasks.  Gaep13(talk) 03:42, 24 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Are you aware of Category:Schools for the deaf? ntennis 03:57, 24 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, I just discovered that. I've also just created my very first article on my school, Indiana School for the Deaf. I am trying to figure out how to add ISD to the category of schools for the Deaf. How do you do that? Thanks. jrw7 23:54 23 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Great work on Indiana School for the Deaf :) It's easy to add it to the category — just put this text at the bottom of the article:  . ntennis 05:29, 24 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks! Appreciate it! Yeah, that was my very first article I've ever created on Wikipedia. Not as hard as it sounds or looks. I didn't want to put way too much information on the article, because I feel that would take potential visitors away from ISD's website. I just put what I felt was enough information along with a link on the bottom. More will be added; however, it looks nice right now. Again, thanks. jrw7 08:09, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Greetings. I would like to invite you to review my article The Learning Center for Deaf Children. I need a fresh pair of eyes on it. Most of the information was gleened from the website. Thanks! Jerry G. Sweeton Jr. 20:28, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

NPOV
This, IMO, is going to be the most difficult element of this project. The way I see it, it actually might be easiest to stay true to both sides of the issue if critical articles presented their material from both the medical perspective and the Deaf Culture's perspective. Perhaps this would end up superfluous, but I don't think "playing the middle ground" does either side justice (especially Deaf Culture, actually). What does everyone think? Redundant or necessary? (Or is there a better way to address the problem?) --Cathryn 20:40, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


 * The conventional approach to controversial topics on wikipedia is to describe the main points of view, and cite the sources. To give a simplistic example, cochlear implants are championed by [XYZ medical authority] as a wonderful new treatment for deafness, and are opposed by [XYZ Deaf community authority] as an attack on Deaf culture. Readers are left to form their own opinion. Have you read Neutral point of view? What article/s in particular do you think are difficult to present in an NPOV way? Maybe we can discuss some possible approaches here? ntennis 01:45, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

In reference to Malkowski's defeated bill for Ontarians with disabilities, the line reads "unfortunately, the bill did not pass". While I agree that is unfortunate, presumably those who voted against it - a majority, I would think - did not. Is it not thus editorializing to use the "tragic" words such as this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.12.69.32 (talk) 03:46, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Userboxes?
I know there's already a wikibox for deaf users, but how about something that reflects deaf culture? As indicated below, a hearing aid photo doesn't really fit the "capital-D Deaf" cultural identity. --Micahbrwn 05:23, 1 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I agree entirely. I think a picture of a person signing would be great, and then there can be two userboxes: "This user is deaf" and "This user is Deaf."  Sadly, this again reflects our need for good ASL/deaf pictures.  I don't have a camera (digital or otherwise) or else I would undertake that venture myself.  I am going abroad this summer, but when I get back I think I will start to pursue pictures and maybe even video.  We're a work in progress; let’s not lose steam! Gaep13(talk) 21:57, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
 * What about a picture of the ILY sign? Given that's a pretty universal sign in deaf culture, no matter which country you live in. Micahbrwn 05:20, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Great idea. U have one? ntennis 05:55, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * What about http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Lagoon/1152/ILY.gif this picture? Obviously, copyright is a major concern, but since it's such a well-known symbol, it's practically fair use, no?  By the way, I love the idea of two userboxes -- "This user is deaf" and "this user is Deaf" (the latter with the ILY symbol), but may I suggest something more inclusive like "This user is considered to be a member of deaf culture" or something like that, since there are some people who are (medically) hearing, but consider themselves to be culturally Deaf (i.e. CODAs, spouses of Deaf people, etc.  Thoughts?  Micahbrwn 19:57, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * That's interesting. I wonder if that is a US thing? My impression here in Australia is that hearing are Hearing, even though they may be immersed in the Deaf community. As for the image, the symbol is not copyright, but that particular image (artwork) is. One way to make a copyright-free image would be to find a photo on the internet and trace over it in photoshop, making a new line-drawn image and deleting the original photo. ntennis 23:57, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, ntennis, that's just my take on it. I'd say it's next to impossible to reach a consensus on who is a member of deaf culture.  It's a lot like the Who is a Jew? argument, y'know?  In any case, has anyone found a suitable picture to use for the deaf culture/Deaf userbox that I suggested? Micahbrwn 21:11, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

So … are we going to make a "This User is Deaf" wikibox? How about a WikiProject Deaf userbox? It's been months since the topic (or any other) was brought up, after all … --Micahbrwn 02:43, 6 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I have a digital camera at home, and I can make a picture of myself making the ILY symbol; I personally would feel quite honored to have my hand as a symbol of the Deaf community on Wikipedia ;) I will try to remember to do it tonight. --Puellanivis 22:23, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I've created a template for Deaf users UserDeaf.--NeilEvans 02:26, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Project Directory
Hello. The WikiProject Council is currently in the process of developing a master directory of the existing WikiProjects to replace and update the existing WikiProject Council/Directory. These WikiProjects are of vital importance in helping wikipedia achieve its goal of becoming truly encyclopedic. Please review the following pages:
 * User:Badbilltucker/Culture Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Culture Directory 2,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Philosophy and religion Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Sports Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Geographical Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Geographical Directory/United States, (note: This page will be retitled to more accurately reflect its contents)
 * User:Badbilltucker/History and society directory, and
 * User:Badbilltucker/Science directory

and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope to have the existing directory replaced by the updated and corrected version of the directory above by November 1. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. B2T2 22:48, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry if you tried to update it before, and the corrections were gone. I have now moved the new draft in the old directory pages, so the links should work better. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused you. B2T2 14:46, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia Day Awards
Hello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:52, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Project notice template
I've created a project notice for use on talk pages, can someone assist me in placing it on all relevant talk pages. I've already placed it on all sign language pages. Here is the code WikiProjectDeaf --NeilEvans 16:13, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Before I saw the notice on the Project Insight talk page this morning, I did not know WikiProject Deaf existed. My interest in deaf issues stems from my hearing son's 15 years of involvement in deaf culture, education, and recreation.   — Athænara   ✉  17:36, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Copyrighted images in Telecommunications Relay Service
We need to replace the copyrighted images in Telecommunications Relay Service with free ones. Specifically, we need an image of a CapTel USB user using a CapTel USB during a captioned call to replace CapTel_jk-usb.jpg and a diagram with an appropriate example of a DeafBlind contracted braille relay abbreviation, in order to replace Illustration-telebraille.gif. I have added a request on Wikipedia:Requested pictures and discussed it in its talk page. Any attempts to replace the other images, any any images, or expand the article at all are also appreciated. Taric25 23:40, 2 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Got your message on my talk page. I'm a bit new so I'm still getting the feel for appropriate traffic patterns of discussion. I see now that the request you placed on my page was just above my message. Here is the note I put on your talk page that you asked to be redirected here:

"I will get on this. It could take me some time. I notices on the page that the images that matched the description Telecommunications Relay Service of your request were up for deletion. What kind of time frame do I have. the more time the better that way I can work it in."

Ara Pelodi 17:57, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Pictures
I've noticed that a lot of the talk pages talk about the need for good pictures. I have a camera. I have access to interpreters and Deaf. I'm willing to go out and get the images people want for pages. So if anyone thinks this is a good idea, just put the request on my talk page of waht image you want. Describe it as exactly as you want (such as an I love you hand, elderly, disembodied, no Jewelry blue background) the size and resolution you want and how to get it to you for use on Wikipedia. (I have neveruploaded a picture to wikipedia so I'll need handlholing on this). If direct me I'll take the picture for you. That fixes the copyright concern right?

Ara Pelodi 02:25, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * We need an image of a CapTel USB user using a CapTel USB during a captioned call and a diagram with an appropriate example of a DeafBlind contracted braille relay abbreviation. I can help you upload the image, if you like. High resolution would be nice, since we can always resample it later. Take a look at the images in Telecommunications Relay Service to get an idea. Taric25 05:58, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * When this is the extent of some of the sign language pictures, i think images of people signing in conversation would be a great start. JoeSmack Talk 21:46, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I am rather skilled in ASL, Contact Sign (formerly PSE), and MCE/SEE1/SEE2/CASE. I would be happy to take some pictures, if anyone would like. I also have a videophone/webcam. Taric25 22:57, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * That'd be great, both of you should upload as much as you can, just go nuts. Sign languages are such visual and expressive languages that we've really be remiss in not having many images for their respective articles. Just go down the section headings of American_Sign_Language etc and start thinking of a good sign to help convey the section, upload it to the commons and link it back here. Much, much appreciated you guys. JoeSmack Talk 00:18, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

ASL Versions of Wiki articles
Since I started the spoken word project and learned more about wikipedia (there are versions of articles accessible to non-english speakers in their native tongue) I've contemplating the concept of having video files of ASL interpretations either in an ASL wikipedia (like they have a spanish wikipedia) or as a video file attached to the english article (like the spoken word project has the audio tagged on the page).

I don't know where I would even begin to propose this, but I have a list of fluent Deaf I could possibly convince to start this translatation. (I can film and edit if I'm given extension, size and resolution formats.) Since I found the Wiki Project "Deaf" I could even start there. what do people think of this idea, and if its favorable who would I contact or what would be the next step to getting this in place to be able upload and attach video files of the translated article.

Ara Pelodi 02:33, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Please see Help:How to start a new Wikipedia on how to start Wikipedia in a new language, including ASL Wikipedia. Taric25 05:52, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I think it's a great idea. I've been thinking for a while that they should have a BSL wiki. I'm not sure if a totally new wiki is needed or if it may be easier to just upload video files like with the spoken word project.--NeilEvans 15:00, 4 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Keep in mind the wikicommons, where much of the video would be uploaded i'm guessing, has a size limit (about 20 megs). Large articles in ASL/BSL et al. would probably run up against the limit a lot. I still though think it is a great idea. JoeSmack Talk 15:47, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * The size limitations would be a problem, but the idea still stands, that wikipages in ASL/BSL etc. is a good idea. After all there is a wiki site for pages translated into Anglo Saxon. Surely there are more people using BSL/ASL than Anglo Saxon. So they should have their own language wiki, or at least a translation of pages.--NeilEvans 15:52, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm thinking a lot about this and looked up the Wiki help link Help:How to start a new Wikipedia. As far as size limitations, long articles could be broken up into its sections and the viewer could simply download/view the section they were interested in. But I actually have a lot of thoughts on this and will formulate them for more coherent presention over the next couple of weeks.

Ara Pelodi 21:30, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

I've been looking over the different options for getting ASL in Wikipedia and see the discussion has been started in a variety of ways. For me I think I can best contribute by recording stable articles in ASL, that can hopefully be placed on wikimedia and linked into the article. Once its decided by others how ASL should be presented on wikipedia (ASL written wiki, ASL visual wiki, or .theora files attached to the english wiki's like the spoken word porject) I'm more than willing to help migrate them.

The first thing I would like to do is record whatever permission my signing subjects would need to give. On the Spoken Word project there is a blurb one has to post. I have a sunject willing to sign it, but I'm not sure what to give him...Do I have him sign the GNU license, or the I give my permission under the GNU license. Can someone point me in the right direction? Ara Pelodi

NOTE: Keep in mind regional differences in ASL. Perhaps follow a "when in doubt, fingerspell" kind of mindset? musicalmeg20 (talk) 01:39, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Subtitle (captioning) & Closed captioning
You'll notice wikipedians writing Subtitle (captioning) far more towards the Hearing perspective than the Deaf perspective. For example, section 2, Same language captions, has one small paragraph about uses for people who are Deaf and Hard–of–Hearing, but section 2.1, Use by those not deaf or hard-of-hearing is very long; it has its own subsection, and that subsection has two of it's own subsections!

It is already within the scope of WikiProject Filmmaking, however, I have added WikiProjectDeaf to its talk page, in hopes that we may give it a larger Deaf perspective. Taric25 23:14, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject Deaf is already a part of Subtitle (captioning), and so is WikiProject Filmmaking, so I added WikiProject Filmmaking, however, these two articles really should be merged. Maybe WikiProject Filmmaking and WikiProject Deaf can work together to merge them. Taric25 08:32, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Subtitles and captions are two different things and no, those two articles are not going to be merged. – joeclark 19:47, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Audism needs improvement
can someone cruise over to Audism and give it some work? i think this is a fairly important article, and it really needs it. JoeSmack Talk 13:41, 7 February 2007 (UTC)


 * What do you feel needs to be improved? I've had my eye on the article for a while as something to potentially work on, as it would be a relatively smaller project than the other deaf-related articles. —Erik (talk • contrib • review) - 14:03, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Youth Leadership Camp
Could some of you take a close look at the Youth Leadership Camp article to see what improvements are needed to justify removing the notability tag an editor added to it when it was a two day old stub? Thanks. — Athænara  ✉  05:11, 15 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Ok, the tag looks gone.  •F e l i x• T 19:10, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Suggestion to merge Subtitle and Closed captioning articles
(Moved from list of tasks; categorized by date. Photouploaded (talk 14:11, 23 January 2008 (UTC))

Merge Subtitle (captioning) & Closed captioning
 * No, you're not going to do that. Subtitles and captions are two different things. – joeclark 19:44, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
 * They are already suggested for merger on their own pages. Of course they are two different things, and one article should compare and contrast them, since there is so much overlap. For example, some countries use subtitles instead of captions, even for people who are Deaf and Hard–of–Hearing. Taric25 19:37, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Then those countries aren't using captioning; they're using subtitling. You can start a new article comparing captioning and subtitling, but you cannot merge the two articles under the false claim that captioning and subtitling are the same thing. They aren't. − joeclark 01:01, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I never said they are the same thing. Yes, we should have a section in the article to compare and contrast their differances, but it should be one article. WikiProject_Filmmaking already has a discussion to merge the two articles as well. Also the article's title is Subtitle (captioning), not Subtitle (except captioning). If you disagree, then you can request the name of the article to change on its talk page. Taric25 19:33, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I think merging is a good idea. Having one article on a topic does not mean the things in it are the same thing, but that they're both better addressed by using one more comprehensive article that can compare-and-contrast. E.g. why I proposed that Top (sex) and Bottom (sex) be merged - they're hardly the same thing (opposites!) but would be better as one article. -- Sai Emrys  ¿?   ✍  22:37, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
 * If this made any sense at all, then you’d merge the Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Quebec articles because they’re all Canadian provinces. Captioning and subtitling are two separate things and require two separate articles. It is fiction to claim subtitling and captioning are the same thing, or that captioning is subtitling, or that they are so terribly close together that we might as well just obliterate captioning from Wikipedia and replace it with what everyone deep down knows it really is, subtitling. I say again: If you want to compare subtitling and captioning, something I’ve already extensively done on the Web (not licensed for Wikipedia inclusion), create a separate article. Any attempts to merge the captioning and subtitling articles will be reverted ad infinitum and taken all the way to arbitration. – joeclark 05:28, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
 * You seem to seriously misunderstand the point of merging in this case. It is not "to claim subtitling and captioning are the same thing, or that captioning is subtitling, or that they are so terribly close together that we might as well just obliterate captioning from Wikipedia and replace it with what everyone deep down knows it really is, subtitling". It's to acknowledge that they are very similar topics, and that a compare-and-contrast article would work better than having them be smaller, separate articles. May I ask why it is that you have such a strong response to this, when they are NOT being suggested to be identical? Sai Emrys   ¿?   ✍  04:40, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

SignWriting and an ASL Wikipedia.
I sent an e-mail to Valerie Sutton, and she was very receptive to the idea of developing an ASL Wikipedia in SignWriting. She even said her group had grant money that it could use to develop articles. See the broader discussion at meta:Requests for new languages/Wikipedia American Sign Language 2. Thanks.--Pharos 05:20, 10 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I looked over the discussion here meta:Requests for new languages/Wikipedia American Sign Language 2. For me I prefer to start recording stable articles in ASL, that can hopefully be placed on wikimedia and linked into the article. Once its decided by others how ASL should be presented on wikipedia (ASL written wiki, ASL visual wiki, or .theora files attached to the english wiki's like the spoken word porject) I'm more than willing to help migrate them. Ara Pelodi


 * Hmm... some people might object to directly linking to ASL videos in English Wikipedia, since ASL has no special connection to English. Still, I think it would be a great pilot project to translate an article or two, and link to them from the Meta proposal page.  The format would be up to you, I suppose, but it would probably be best if you could use one of the text or graphic writing systems, because it's likely that videos would have a subsidiary place in ASL Wikipedia (analogous to spoken articles, here), since they're not wiki-editable.  Or, if you're not experienced with SignWriting or any of the other systems, a video would still be a great step, and other people could transcribe it.  Thanks for taking this step.--Pharos 20:57, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Deaf in Sports
A couple thoughts … Just my ideas. Since I'm not very knowledgeable about sport, I'm hardly qualified to do much more than wiki-cleanup and basic editing. Micahbrwn 17:58, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I think the Deaflympics page could use some improvements. It's a great start, but it could use some more information -- how it started, the controversy with the IOC regarding the -lympic suffix, even notable events during past Games.  Additionally, some info added to the Paralympics and Disabled sports articles regarding the Deaflympics (and how they differ from, say, the Special Olympics or the Paralympics) would be helpful too … as I just had to remove a few inappropriate links to the Deaflympics article from the Paralympics article.
 * Notable athletes/athletic moments in history should be created and/or expanded, i.e. the football huddle, William "Dummy" Hoy and other notable Deaf professional athletes, and so on.
 * I also think a page on the Gallaudet Bison sports program should be created, if there isn't one already. Many collegiate sport programs already have their own Wikipedia page, why not Gallaudet?

What's our best Deaf culture article?
The nascent ASL Wikipedia in SignWriting is making great progress and seems close to approval by Wikimedia. Now, the SignWriting community is looking to write the first ever encyclopedia article in a signed language as a test project to prove the concept's worth, and is hoping to translate something from the English Wikipedia. Any good suggestions?--Pharos 02:10, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Deaf at WP:ACID
Just wanted to inform the project that our core article Deaf is on WP:ACID as a nomination. Just an FYI  •F e l i x• T 19:10, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Friends in high places
I've just tagged Princess Akishino. Apparently she is an advocate for Deaf people. BrainyBabe 17:05, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

What about interpreting issues?
Sign language interpreters are very much connected to deaf and issues concerning them greatly affects a deaf person. Many issues can be included here like methods of interpreting (sign while mouthing words, tightlipped, lip reading, etc.), areas of interpreting (legal, medical, religious) as well as ethical and moral issues involved.Jomanila 06:30, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The first group of issues you mention seems useful to include here or otherwise connected to sign languages. The areas and issues, however, are true for all interpreters, and so should be covered in interpretation or related articles.  BrainyBabe 13:07, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Baby Sign Language
Hi everyone, my name is MJ and I am Deaf. I'm an avid fan of Baby Sign Language, and want to add more info to the baby sign language pages. It seems people keep deleting the links there that have great resources. My site was listed by someone else there, which was an honor, however when I try to add links to other baby signing sites, they are deleted. However ASL University always manages to stay there, although it's only related to ASL and NOT to Baby Sign Language. How do we improve this? Thank you for your time! MJ July 2 2007  10:40am MST

Alexander Graham Bell
I have tagged Alexander Graham Bell because his life was highly relevant to the development of the education of deaf children. His bio could use work. BrainyBabe 13:18, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Recruiting
Any editors who are interested are hereby invited to contribute at Wikibooks. We have 2 Visual Language textbooks which are in need of editors. There are many other areas that you can contribute if you don't want to edit those books. If you have questions about Wikibooks, or these textbooks in particular, you can ask at our Reading Room or on my Wikibooks talk page. – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 01:59, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Major cleanup of project page
I just performed a major cleanup of this Project's space. To be quite frank, before I got to it, it was atrocious. It was essentially unreadable. You can compare how it looked before the cleanup with how it looks now. I hope that with the Project page being more readable, that more editors will participate here. Photouploaded (talk) 14:48, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
I have created this Hearing Dogs for Deaf People please feel free to read and talk to me about it. It is a work in progress. Peace Out Sparkyboi (talk) 23:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I have expanded the page further and added new information, please discuss on the page if you have any suggestions/contributions on how I can improve the article. thanks! Sparkyboi (talk) 21:44, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

rating
I've started rating national SLs and their manual alphabets 'high' importance, based on the writing project scale, and major articles such as Deaf culture and fingerspelling 'top'. Hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes. kwami (talk) 18:42, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Changes to the WP:1.0 assessment scheme
As you may have heard, we at the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial Team recently made some changes to the assessment scale, including the addition of a new level. The new description is available at WP:ASSESS.
 * The new C-Class represents articles that are beyond the basic Start-Class, but which need additional references or cleanup to meet the standards for B-Class.
 * The criteria for B-Class have been tightened up with the addition of a rubric, and are now more in line with the stricter standards already used at some projects.
 * A-Class article reviews will now need more than one person, as described here.

Each WikiProject should already have a new C-Class category at Category:C-Class_articles. If your project elects not to use the new level, you can simply delete your WikiProject's C-Class category and clarify any amendments on your project's assessment/discussion pages. The bot is already finding and listing C-Class articles.

Please leave a message with us if you have any queries regarding the introduction of the revised scheme. This scheme should allow the team to start producing offline selections for your project and the wider community within the next year. Thanks for using the Wikipedia 1.0 scheme! For the 1.0 Editorial Team, §hepBot  ( Disable )  22:01, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

deaf-blind
Should we have verbal descriptions of the handshapes used in the various manual alphabets for the blind or deaf-blind? Last year I started providing such info to a deaf-blind website, but it never got very far. kwami (talk) 15:05, 26 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I think we're ok for Two-handed manual alphabet - we even have a video I made for that purpose. &mdash; Mike.lifeguard &#124; @en.wb 22:38, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia 0.7 articles have been selected for Deaf
Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. The Version 1.0 Editorial Team has made an automated selection of articles for Version 0.7.

We would like to ask you to review the articles selected from this project. These were chosen from the articles with this project's talk page tag, based on the rated importance and quality. If there are any specific articles that should be removed, please let us know at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.7. You can also nominate additional articles for release, following the procedure at Release Version Nominations.

A list of selected articles with cleanup tags, sorted by project, is available. The list is automatically updated each hour when it is loaded. Please try to fix any urgent problems in the selected articles. A team of copyeditors has agreed to help with copyediting requests, although you should try to fix simple issues on your own if possible.

We would also appreciate your help in identifying the version of each article that you think we should use, to help avoid vandalism or POV issues. These versions can be recorded at this project's subpage of User:SelectionBot/0.7. We are planning to release the selection for the holiday season, so we ask you to select the revisions before October 20. At that time, we will use an automatic process to identify which version of each article to release, if no version has been manually selected. Thanks! For the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial team, SelectionBot 23:09, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Edward Klima
I have just crated a (stub-class at best) new article about Edward Klima. I note that in the linguistics portion of the sign language article is very little information on the history of the linguistic analysis of sign languages. Perhaps someone could take the sad opportunity of the Klima's death to improve both the new biography page and the sign language article. Thanks, Bongomatic (talk) 13:37, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Deaf Peddlers/Peddling
I would like to see an article about deaf peddlers. Bothy because it plays an important role in showing the history of the oppression of deaf people, and also to raise public awareness about fraudulent deaf peddlers and how they damage the image of the Deaf community in the public eye.72.221.122.42 (talk) 01:31, 10 November 2008 (UTC)