Stephen E. Slevinski, Jr.

Stephen E. Slevinski is the developer of the world standard for SignWriting Software since 2004 to present, working together with SignWriting inventor Valerie Sutton to create software used by signwriters from 40 countries.

Slevinski's software includes:
SignPuddle Online, software used all over the world on the web
The PocketPuddle, a SignPuddle server on a USB flash drive
The PersonalPuddle, SignPuddle Desktop Software
SignPuddle Servers for networks
SignWriting Image Server (SWIS)
IMWA Convert Package to ISWA
Binary SignWriting (BSW)
SignText for creating SignWriting documents
SignMaker for creating SignWriting dictionaries
SignWriting MediaWiki Plugin (SWMP) for Wikipedias in SignWriting

Steve Slevinski is the first in history to program important grammatical elements of the SignWriting script that had never been accomplished before, including writing in vertical columns with lanes, a unique grammar requirement for writing Sign Language Literature properly. In 2008, Slevinski is doing important work with encoding the International SignWriting Alphabet (ISWA 2008) with his new Binary SignWriting (BSW) which is a model for the structure of character encoding in SignWriting. Binary SignWriting is a "Character Encoding Model".

History Before 2004
Steve Slevinski graduated from Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania in 1994, with a BS degree in Mathematics, thereafter working for the New York State Education Department in 1994 and 1995 as a Senior Computer Programmer / Analyst, performing a wide array of tasks including troubleshooting, report generation, systems analysis and design, database conversion, and application development.

In 1996 Slevinski started with Danet Inc; a Telecommunications Integrator and a US subsidiary of Danet GmbH out of Germany. From 1996 till 1998, he worked in the Technical Services business unit in a Windows, Unix, and Oracle environment. Steve performed manual and automated testing including module testing, integration testing, system testing, and acceptance testing, working closely with customers and programmers to help debug problems encountered in production environments. Steve created custom applications to aid in his role in the technical services business unit.

1999-2002, Steve was promoted to a systems engineer working on the internal systems. He was responsible for improving the overall quality of the project administration and management information systems, working closely with managers, project managers, accounting, human resources, sales, and executives to enhance and integrate the diverse information technology used within the company.

In 2003, Steve discovered SignWriting on the internet and attempted to start a non-profit organization called Pittsburgh United for Deaf Literacy (PUDL). Steve developed his own PUDL software for SignWriting, feeling strongly that literacy is important for everyone and that SignWriting is the key to literacy for Sign Language users.

In 2004, Valerie Sutton learned about Slevinski's PUDL software for SignWriting, which later became known as "SignPuddle" Software, and invited him to work as a consultant for the Center for Sutton Movement Writing. That was the beginning of the Sutton-Slevinski collaboration. Steve Slevinski and Valerie Sutton work together daily, providing tech support to SignWriting software users, and expanding current software. Their new SignWriting Software Package will be released on SourceForge in 2008.

Steve and Sonia Slevinski.