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     |5 |EBrainware|5        ^1 American Sign Language Tutor |5        |EBrainware|5 
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^Cby
^CHerb Bartow

        Have you ever wanted to learn and use American Sign Language?  Well 
     now you can, and you can have fun while doing it too!  Herb Bartow's 
     interesting program, American Sign Language Tutor, turns your PC into 
     your own private teacher allowing you to learn the signs for many 
     common words such as "Mother", "Apple", "Book", "Car", and others.  
     For those words not directly available as a sign, there is the manual 
     alphabet, which lets you "finger spell" any word or number. 

        First, learn to identify individual letters and numbers by typing 
     the characters and then viewing the corresponding finger spelling.  
     Then, let ASL Tutor quiz you on your knowledge.  You can even create a 
     textfile of characters for the computer to spell back at you.  As you 
     become a better sign reader, decrease the delay to build up your 
     speed! 


     ^1MAIN MENU^0

        There are eight options available from the Main Menu.  To choose 
     one, use the arrow keys to highlight your selection then press <ENTER> 
     or simply press the first letter of your choice. All eight options are 
     explained below. 

     ^11. LETTERS^0
        This option will allow you to view the alphabetic or numerical sign 
     for a particular letter or digit (0-9).  Just press the key for the 
     character you wish to see.  Press <ESC> at any time to return to the 
     Main Menu.  The size and color of the letters is determined by 
     ASL.CFG.  This file can be changed and optionally saved by selecting 
     SETUP from the Main Menu. 

     ^12. WORDS^0
        This option will show you the finger spelling for a complete word a 
     letter at a time.  Multiple words may be entered separated by spaces.  
     CGA limit:  up to 35 characters (letters + spaces).  EGA/VGA limit:  
     up to 40 characters (letters + spaces).  Hit <ENTER> after the last 
     word.  Size and color are determined by the SETUP options.  An 
     optional way of viewing words is to choose SETUP and set the WORDS 
     option to "more than 1". This will display all letters for a word on 
     the screen at the same time.  To use this option you should set the 
     hand size to a small value (1 or 2).  This varies by graphics adapter.  
     If more letters are entered then will fit on the screen, the letters 
     are truncated off both ends of the words.  It is best to use this 
     option on words with few letters.  Press <ESC> to return to the Main 
     Menu. 

     ^13. TEXTFILE^0
        This option will read in a standard ASCII text file and display it 
     one letter at a time using the current SETUP options. You can return 
     to the Main Menu at any time by pressing <ESC>. This option provides a 
     good way to practice reading finger spelling.  The default textfile 
     name is ASL.TXT, but this can be changed from SETUP.  You can edit 
     ASL.TXT or use any text editor to create your own file.  If you create 
     your own file, remember to change the default textfile name in SETUP.  
     The textfile must be in the current directory.  The DELAY option in 
     SETUP controls the speed of presentation. 

     ^14. QUIZ^0
        This option will show a sign for a particular letter (A - Z) and 
     wait for you to type in the matching letter on the keyboard. If you 
     press the right key for the sign being displayed, a new sign will 
     appear.  If you get it wrong, the PC will beep.  The sign will remain 
     until you press the proper key.  Hitting <ESC> at any time will return 
     you to the Main Menu. 

     ^15. DICTIONARY^0
        This option brings up a list of 50 common words that are contained 
     in dictionary files.  Use arrow keys to highlight the word whose sign 
     you want to view and press <ENTER>.  The program will continue to show 
     the sign until any key is pressed.  You will then be given the 
     opportunity to view another sign or press <ESC> to return to the Main 
     Menu.  The dictionary files LS1D.DCT and LS1S.CHR must both be present 
     in the current directory. 
        Generally, the signer faces the person he is signing to. Some 
     illustrations are drawn from the side or three quarters view to afford 
     a better view of the sign. 

     ^16. SETUP^0
        This option will allow you to configure American Sign Language 
     Tutor to your system and preferences.  When ASLT.EXE starts, it looks 
     in the current directory for the file ASL.CFG. If it is found, 
     configuration information contained in that file is loaded.  If it is 
     not found, ASLT.EXE uses default settings. From within SETUP, use the 
     arrow keys to choose the setting you want to change then press 
     <ENTER>.  After changing all the settings to your preference, press 
     <ESC> to quit SETUP.  You will be prompted to save these settings.  If 
     you answer 'Y', the file ASL.CFG will either be created or updated.  
     The next time you start ASL Tutor these new settings will be used.  If 
     you answer 'N', the file ASL.CFG will NOT be updated.  Either way, the 
     settings WILL apply to the current session.  To return ASL Tutor to 
     its default state, simply delete ASL.CFG.  The available options in 
     SETUP are as follows: 

        ^1TEXT COLOR^0
           This is the color of the text on the main menus.  It cannot be 
     the same as the text background color. 

        ^1TEXT BACKGROUND^0
           This is the background color for the main menus.  It cannot be 
     the same as text color or bar background. 

        ^1BAR COLOR^0
           This is the color of the text in the highlighted choice bar.  It 
     cannot be the same as bar background color. 

        ^1BAR BACKGROUND^0
           This is the color of the background choice bar.  It cannot be the 
     same as the bar color or the text background. 

        ^1HAND COLOR^0
           This is the color of the displayed hands.  For CGA there are 
     only 3 valid choices.  For EGA and VGA there are 15 valid colors.  For 
     EGA and VGA, hand color cannot be the same as hand background.  In 
     EGA/VGA black is not a valid hand color. Due to resolution 
     restrictions in CGA, DICTIONARY is only available with white signs on 
     a black background in CGA mode. EGA/VGA supports 15 colors. 

        ^1HAND BACKGROUND^0
           This is the graphics background color.  For CGA, black is the 
     only valid color.  For EGA/VGA there are 16 valid colors. 

        ^1WORDS - 1 OR MORE^0
           With the default of 1, when you view WORDS from the Main Menu, 
     you will see one letter at a time.  When you set this option to "more 
     than 1", the program will display all the letters for each word at one 
     time on the screen.  You should set the hand size to a small value 
     when using the second option. 

        ^1TEXT FILE NAME^0
           This is the name of the file which is read and displayed from 
     the TEXTFILE option on the Main Menu.  Any standard ASCII file can be 
     used, but it must be smaller than 4000 bytes.  Please enter the file 
     name and extension (file must be in the current directory).  The 
     default is ASL.TXT. 

        ^1HAND SIZE^0
           This is a sizing factor for the hands.  Valid settings are 1 to 
     12; (1 is normal size, 3 is 3 times normal size, etc). If you set this 
     value too high for your adapter, parts of the hands will not be 
     displayed.  Experiment with this number as it does make a big 
     difference in the quality and appearance of the hands. 

        ^1DISPLAY - SECONDS^0
           This is the time delay between each letter in seconds.  Valid 
     values are between 0.1 and 15.0 seconds.  As you become better at 
     signing, you can lower this value. 

        ^1GRAPHICS ADAPTER^0
           Set this option to match your monitor and graphics adapter type.  
     When you change this option remember that size, speed, and colors will 
     be affected.  The program has built in defaults which are set such as 
     hand size and colors.  You can change these after setting graphics 
     adapter type.  You cannot select a higher level adapter than you have.  
     (If you have EGA, you cannot select VGA.) 

        ^1HANDS - R OR L^0
           This controls whether you will view right hands or left hands.  
     This only controls letters and finger spelling. Numbers are always 
     viewed right handed as are DICTIONARY words. 


     ^17. F1-HELP^0
        Two pages of help will pop up and briefly explain the available 
     options.  Press any key to exit the help screens. 

     ^18. EXIT^0
        This option returns you to DOS.


     ^1CONFIGURATION^0

        When you start the program, a configuration file ASL.CFG will be 
     read if it is available.  This file is optionally created by the user 
     and contains such things as screen colors and size of the graphic 
     hand.  If it is not found, the system defaults will be used.  The file 
     ASL.CFG is created after running SETUP from the main menu (see SETUP 
     below).  The program will issue a warning if ASL.CFG is not found.  To 
     eliminate this warning message, create and save a configuration file. 


     ^1HARDWARE^0

        ASL TUTOR runs in CGA mode (320x200), EGA mode (640x350), or VGA 
     mode (640x480) on an IBM XT, AT, PS/2 or true IBM compatibles.  ASL 
     Tutor requires a color monitor and a color graphics adapter and can be 
     run from a hard or floppy drive. 


     ^1OUTSIDE BBD^0
        To run this program outside the ^1Big Blue Disk^0 menu, 
           type ^1ASLT^0.

        Disk files this programs uses:
^FASLT.EXE
^F ASL.CFG
^F ASL.TXT
^FLS1D.DCT
^FLS1S.CHR
