SignWriting

Sutton SignWriting, or simply SignWriting, is a writing system for sign languages. It can be used to write any sign language.

SignWriting is the only international writing system for sign languages. It has been used to publish young adult fiction, translate the Bible, caption YouTube videos, and study sign language literacy.

The SignWriting system is visually iconic: its symbols depict the hands, face, and body of a signer. Unlike most writing systems, which are written linearly, the symbols of SignWriting are written two-dimensionally, to represent the signing space.

SignWriting was invented in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, a ballet dancer who eight years earlier had developed a dance notation named Sutton DanceWriting. The current standardized form of SignWriting is known as the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA).