Guiding principles

compatibility with systems accessible to students both in and outside of Europe;
preference for open source technologies in the interest of long-term sustainability of the product.

Delivery

CDROM technology (rather than a server-based solution) was chosen in order to

by-pass bandwidth restrictions;
avoid exclusive dependency on online connection;
facilitate accessing the course under field conditions.

Composition and editing

Production of main contents: HTML authoring system, JavaScript, sound editor, image manipulation, video editor, prolog interpreter;
Production of exercices: various tools such as Choice (Johannes Unnawehr), HotPotatoes (University of Victoria) and Shoebox (SIL) for creating exercises.

Databases

Shoebox 5.0 database program (vocabulary, text management, interlinearization). Files for different uses are generated from the same database in different formats (SFM, XML, HTML and RTF).

Web browsers

Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 6.0 (or higher), or equivalents.

OS Platforms: Windows, Macintosh, Linux.

Bandwidth: Requirements adapted to dial-in connection.

Product delivery (ALI Swahili "kit")