I was watching the demo of Enso, a neat little services framework devised by Aza Raskin and friends. Enso offers a modal spellcheck window, which turns each misspelled word into a popup menu of suggestions:
This is pretty typical. Unfortunately, it hides information and forces unnecessary interaction. The user has to click on each word in turn, scan the suggestions, and click again on the right one.
The demo below shows all suggestions for all misspelled words at once. The user can scan the entire document, suggestions and all, and then correct everything in one fell swoop -- click, click, click, click.
Try it! (The text is from Politics and the English Language by George Orwell, 1946.)
What is above all needed is to let the mening [ meaning mining meeting mewing mending + ] choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surender [ surrender + ] to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualizing you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it. When you think of something abstract you are more enclined [ enclosed enchained inclined + ] to use words from the start, and unless you make a concious [ conscious + ] effort to prevent it, the existing dialect will come rushing in and do the job for you, at the expense of blurring or even changing your meaning. Probably it is better to put off using words as long as possible and get one's meaning as clear as one can through pictures and sensations. Afterword [ Afterward Afterwork After-word + ] one can choose -- not simply accept -- the phrases that will best cover the meaning, and then switch round and decide what impressions one's words are likely to make on another person. This last effort of the mind cuts out all stale or mixed images, all prefabricated phrases, needless repatitions [ repetitions reputations repartitions + ], and humbug and vagueness generally.
Another approach is to put spelling suggestions between the lines of the text. This might work better for as-you-type spellchecking in a text editor.
What is above all needed is to let the meaning mining meeting mewing mending + mening choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender + surender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe scribe ascribe + dscribe the thing you have been visualizing + vizulizing you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it.
What else could interlinear suggestions be used for? How about synonyms?
What is above all needed is to let the significance sense definition explanation implication meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is capitulate give in yield submit relent cede surrender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to report recount detail explain illustrate depict describe the thing you have been envisaging envisioning picturing imagining conceptualizing contemplating visualizing you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it.