[etoys-dev] The road ahead

[Bert Freudenberg]

On 07.10.2009, at 17:21, K. K. Subramaniam wrote:

> On Wednesday 07 Oct 2009 6:10:55 pm Bert Freudenberg wrote:
>> The majority of our users do not speak English as their first
>> language. Having documentation, the Etoys UI, and example content
>> translated to their native languages is of utmost importance
> One cannot take functional literacy for granted in schools across  
> the globe.
> The challenge in documenting a dynamic medium like Etoys for non- 
> English
> audience is in moving from a traditional linear textual format to a  
> visual
> format. Short video clips (2-3min clips) or screen recordings work  
> much better
> than printed text. Children absorb a lot by watching others and  
> imitating
> them.
>
> Subbu

Good point - though I didn't actually say *written* documentation ;)

But how would that affect software development, which is the main  
topic of this discussion?

My idea of automating localized screenshots might be extended to  
screen recordings, which could be used to automatically have videos  
localized (the visuals anyway). Voice-over still needs to be done  
separately for each language.

Screen-recordings with Speex-compressed voice-overs may be space- 
efficient enough to include with Etoys. Just ASMOP ;)

- Bert -