The Canadian Dictionary of ASL has won an award from the Alcuin Society! This is a prestigious national design competition. Alan Brownoff's work on the design of our dictionary received second place in the reference category of this competition. The Alcuin Society winners will be announced and citations presented in Vancouver in June 2003. The Canadian Dictionary of ASL and the CCSD will benefit from national exposure through the media, exhibitions and the Awards Catalogue of Winners. Various national locations have been scheduled for displays. The media, including Quill & Quire magazine, will announce the winning entries.
Deafplanet.com, the first non-fiction interactive website that presents complex concepts on the Internet through ASL with English text and voice-over interpretation, has received positive reviews. TVOntario and Access Alberta TV will air ten episodes of the Deafplanet TV series in the fall of 2003. As a result of the TV series and website, Deaf children will learn and explore academic subjects independently and in greater depth. The Deafplanet.com website will be launched at the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf in Montreal on July 20, 2003.
The Canadian Deaf Heritage and Cultural Arts Centre is now underway. We are developing a funders' package designed by Quadrangle Architects Ltd. and Canadian Deaf leaders from a planning session held in Newfoundland at the 2002 Deaf Canada Conference. The Canadian Deaf Heritage and Cultural Arts Centre will physically reflect who we are as Deaf people, will serve as a cultural, educational and social centre and will educate Deaf and hearing children and adults about our heritage, language, history and art. Funding is needed for this unique building rental, interior and exterior portable design, traveling exhibits, multi-media technology, equipment and operating costs. This significant endeavour will make history on an international scale!
The Ladder Awards II: Story Swap Project is underway. It is an across-the-generations story sharing project in ASL and written English. This project will result in the second published collection of Canadian Deaf heritage stories for children in a book written in English and a collection of ASL stories for children told in multimedia.