Sutton SignWriting, or simply SignWriting, is a writing system for sign languages. It can be used to write any sign language, including American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, Tunisian Sign Language, and many others.

SignWriting is the only international writing system for sign languages. It has been used to publish young adult fiction, translate the Bible, caption YouTube videos, and study sign language literacy.

The SignWriting system is visually iconic: its symbols depict the hands, face, and body of a signer. Unlike most writing systems, which are written linearly, the symbols of SignWriting are written two-dimensionally, to represent the signing space.

SignWriting was invented in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, a ballet dancer who eight years earlier had developed a dance notation named Sutton DanceWriting. The current standardized form of SignWriting is known as the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA).

Sutton originally created SignWriting in Denmark in the fall of 1974, at the request of professor Lars von der Lieth and others on his research team in the Audiology Research Group at the University of Copenhagen.

Sutton was asked to work on a research project, transcribing the gestures made by Danish hearing and Deaf people while they speak or sign. The project, part of a dissertation by Jan Enggaard Pedersen, showed that Danish Sign Language was a rich language, while the gestures of hearing people were unconnected with language.

Sutton's experience transcribing Danish sign language inspired her to work with Deaf people worldwide, helping them to write their own sign languages. She named the new writing system “SignWriting”.

SignWriting has since been used to write the sign languages of 40 countries. However, it is not clear how widespread its use is in each country.