Sight Words Update (10/09/2009)
Sight Words for the Deaf has been revised. In this article you'll find answers to common questions, as well as instructions for upgrading if you already have Sight Words.
We've increased the video quality of Sight Words for the Deaf so that it looks better on large screens.
We've also combined all twelve units into one set. This was done in preparation for a new custom spelling test feature that will be released later this month. This also makes it easy to find a word because you can search the whole set at once.
This update is free to current owners of Sight Words for the Deaf.
Questions & Answers
The units were combined? what?
Previously, Sight Words for the Deaf was split into twelve, 100 word sections. The change is easily illustrated with a screenshot:
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| The old Sight Words was split into 12 sections. | Now its a single set. |
Why?
Sight Words for the Deaf was split into twelve sections. This was intended to make it easy to study a particular section. It also let us sell each section separately as single, 100 word sets.
However, this also means that if you want to look up a word, you wouldn't be able to find it without checking every section.
Furthermore, the separated units clash with an upcoming spelling test feature. This feature is meant to allow teachers to create spelling tests out of words in a glossary. However this feature can only use one glossary at a time, so with Sight Words split into 12 glossaries, you can't freely draw from the entire set.
What if I bought individual sets?
If you bought online, you can log in and go to 'My Downloads' and download Sight Words Complete.
If you bought directly and don't have an online account, you can write us and we'll make an account so you can download this revised, complete set.
What if I want to buy a partial set now?
We created Sight Words Lite, which contains the first 500 most common words.
How do I study at a particular level?
The flash cards are separated into 12 'decks'. Click on the flash cards, then you can choose which set you'd like to study.
The spelling practice is split into 100 'lessons' with 12 words each.
The glossary is all combined, so you can easily search the whole set for any particular word.
What about the video?
The video was originally scanned in from Hi-8 video tapes. The resolution was low and there were black margins around the video.
We used OnOne's Genuine Fractals to upscale the video, as well as other tools like ImageMagick to crop the margins and rebalance color.
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| (Video zoomed is zoomed in to show better quality upscaling - the jagged artifacts on the left occur when video is stretched to fill a screen.) |
Upgrading
If you already have Sight Words for the Deaf, you can upgrade for free.
To do this, you need to uninstall the old version, then download & install the new version.
Uninstalling Sight Words in Windows
You use the Add & Remove Programs tool in the control panel to remove the old Sight Words installation.
Uninstalling Sight Words in Mac
Materials are stored inside the application bundle. To remove them, download and run our learning material remover. This will let you remove the old version of Sight Words from your application bundle.
Getting the new version
If you bought online or were given online access, Log in then click on 'My Downloads'. Download Sight Words for the Deaf and install it as before.
If you bought directly or do not have online access, just ask and we'll give you access to download online.
Need help?
Feel free to write us with any questions you have, or if you need help setting up the new version.