Editing SignWriting (section)

== Advantages and disadvantages ==

Some of the advantages of SignWriting, compared to other writing systems for sign languages, are:
* Its iconicity makes it easy to learn to read, in particular the iconicity that results from layout in two dimensions instead of just one.
* It has detailed mechanisms for representing facial expression and other non-manuals.
* It has been adapted for use with many different sign languages. 
However, it has a few disadvantages as well:
* The sheer size of its symbol set and the fine details which can be written create a challenge in learning how to write. It also means that the written form is largely situational and inventive; different people may write the same sign different ways, and a single person may alternate between transcriptions. 
* The two-dimensional spatial layout of SignWriting symbols within each sign, although it is more iconic than a linear layout, comes at a cost.  SignWriting currently requires special software; SignWriting cannot be used as ordinary text within normal word processors or other application software. As a work-around, software (SignMaker and Rand Keyboard) is available on the SignWriting website which allows a sign, once assembled with special SignWriting software, to be copied easily as a graphic image into [[word processor program|word processing]] or [[desktop publishing]] software.

SignPuddle is a plain-text (ASCII) string representation of signs. It can be stored as plain text anywhere and be replaced by signs with special programs such as the SignWriting Icon Server.<ref name=swis>{{cite web |title=SignWriting Icon Server |url=https://swis.wmflabs.org |website=wmflabs |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref> An [[Request for Comments|RFC]] standard draft for it has been proposed,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Slevinski |first1=Stephen |title=The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-signwriting-text |website=tools.ietf.org |date=9 May 2016 |access-date=19 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> which later evolved into a stricter draft standard known as "Formal Signwriting" (FSW). It can also use Unicode characters instead of ASCII escapes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Slevinski |first1=Stephen |title=Formal SignWriting |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting |website=tools.ietf.org |access-date=19 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> There is also an experimental [[TrueType font]] that uses the [[SIL Graphite]] technology to automatically turn these sequences into signs.<ref name=swis/>