Internet Explorer: Curses, Foiled Again!

Under the heading of things I will never do again: Report having found "the last bug." There is never a last bug.

I have gotten reports from users that the current version of the Fingerspell Flashcards does not show any letters or pictures when using the Internet Explorer version 6.

I develop the Flashcards using Firefox. I test it on Windows using Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 and 3, and on the Mac using Firefox 2.0 and Safari 3.1, but I have no access and therefore no ability to support Internet Export 6.

If anyone would like to send me a patch, please do so! I will be pleased to integrate it into the site.

Fingerspell LSF: Volunteer/Help Wanted

Now that the core of the Flashcards is working reasonably well, my next project will be to install the French LSF (langue de signes français) alphabet.

For me as non-signer it came as quite a surprise to discover that the signing alphabet is not standardized. While there are similarities, the differences can be substantial. Which brings us to the LSF alphabet. (We won't even talk about fingerspelling BSL British Sign Language, which is a two handed alphabet and therefore completely different. Under the heading of surpises, LSF and ASL American Sign Language are said to be quite similar, whereas BSL and ASL are completely different! Who would have thought?)

In any case, I have the pictures to publish the fingerspell flashcards in French. But it seems that it would be more accesible to French signers if the web site and program were also in French. But this exceeds my abilities in French.

So: Help Wanted. Someone to translate 4 web pages into French: the FAQ, the About Us page, the Contact page and the program itself. You can do it from the English or German orginals. All told about 4 to 6 A4 pages. There is no money involved, but you will see my eternal thanks posted on this blog :-)

Please contact me if you can help. Thanks in advance!

The Last Bug :-)

Well, it took some digging, but I finally got the fingerspeller flashcards to run properly on any speed internet line.

For the technically inclined, the FSFC now uses a Just in Time loading algorithm to load the letter images. It now checks that the image has been downloaded before attempting to display it. If it's not there, it waits until the image is loaded. So you don't have to wait for it to download the entire gallery, but the first time though the alphabet it may be a bit jittery.

If you're using a dialup line or broadband with less than 150kpbs and the effect is bothersome, you may want to set the speed to deaf, then click on 'A-Z' just after you start the program. Have a cup of coffee while it downloads the entire alphabet ;-). Then it should work just fine for you, whatever your internet connection.

Performance, Performance

I've been working on the initial load times and the Fingerspell Flashcard program should now start executing after about 4 seconds on a 128 Kpbs ISDN line (compared to 15 seconds or more before).

If you are having problems with some letters not displaying correctly, especially animated letters like J or Z, try:

1. Reload the page,
2. Set the speed to 'Beginner'
3. Display 'A-Z'.
   

This will load all the images. You made need to repeat this once or twice until all the images are properly loaded. I'm working on this.

The Flashcards should now work with a 128kpbs (with a bit of patience) line and work well on a 256K or better broadband line.

I am working on this problem and should have a better fix soon.

Updated Version with better usability

I have just published a new version of the Fingerspell Flashcards. This version should be easier to use than the previous version.

Improvements include:

• Controls to display a random word or a word of your choosing have been moved to the top
• New Button to Hide and Show the text as it is spelled out
• Preferences moved to the bottom
• Scaling is now properly supported - if you have an 800x600 screen, just use the Page->Zoom (on ie7) or View->Text Size->Decrease (on Firefox) until the window fits in your screen.

As before, there are direct links to:

• ASL — American Sign Language
  
• DGS — Deutsche Gebärdensprache/German Sign Language
  
• DSGS — Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache/Swiss German Sign Language

I have tested the new version with Firefox 2.0 on Windows and Mac, Internet Explorer 7, and Safari and it seems to work everywhere. (I don't have access to Internet Explorer 6, so if you have problems, please let me know!

Special Thanks to usability specialist Angie Born of Zeix for her helpful suggestions!