This page provides a side by side comparison of different writing systems for English.  On the pages titled, alternota   and sounds of english , many of the new alphabets for English are compared phoneme by phoneme. 

All phonemic systems will respell at least 60% of the words in the English language and for this reason they will be considered by most to be too radical.  Less radical solutions, however, will not demonstrate the superiority of writing with sound signs. Moderate reforms will make English slightly easier to learn and spell but they will not result in an orthography that is 100% predictable or which can be accurately pronounced by non-native speakers. 

Few people want to use a code that will annoy or turn off their readers.  Few want to use a code that is not widely understood.  Even members of the phonology forum [ saundspel ] are sometimes annoyed by people using an unfamiliar notation because it is so difficult to read without a key.  [read the notations below and tell me if any have crossed your threshold]. The threshold of annoyance is much lower in the general public.  60% are not going to initially like any tampering with the traditional code.  90% are not going to tolerate more than a 10% respelling of the words in the dictionary.  These are just estimates of the unpopularity of any reform proposal. 

These two problems [1. resistance to any change and 2. the necessity for a major change in order to realize the full benefit of the alphabet]  suggest the need for a  third alternative.  The parallel writing system that replaces none of the traditional system -- until 70% of the public has learned it.

This does not mean that after learning how to sound spell, that 70% will prefer it over the traditional system.  It does mean that 50% will see the possible benefits and will read something that is sound spelled.  Very few are going to use a code that will annoy those who have to read it. 

This would be a two stage proposal but nothing like the stages proposals that have been proposed in the past which introduce minor changes in the traditional system.
In the past, the only successful spelling reforms have been those that were endorsed by a dictionary. Thus one of the first steps would be to create a dictionary that included the proposed reformed spellings as variant spellings.

The alternative to piecemeal spelling reform is to teach a pronunciation guide spelling initially as an i.t.a. for a writing to read program and as the ascii spelling system used in the dictionary.  This proposal differs from the original i.t.a. experiment in two ways [1] the code does not require a special font [it will be ascii based or have an ascii variant] and [2] the code is utilized by the dictionary for their pronunciation guide.  A third difference would be the emphasis on proven methods of instruction rather than just providing a new media [a phonetic alphabet].  Unlike the i.t.a.'s of the 1960's, the textbook would be more than a transcription of an old basal reader.

One on-line dictionary already uses an ascii pronunciation guide [see m-w.com ].  Unfortunately, it does no include a converter so there is no way to convert a paragraph or a chapter to phonemic spelling. 

The most complete converter to date is the one developed by foreignword.com for Truespel .  With this 70,000 word dictionary, an entire 500 word block of text can be instantly converted to a phonemic spelling.

The above is the pronunciation guide code currently used in many dictionaries, the IPA. The basic problems with IPA are [1] it uses special characters rather than digraphs to agument the number of soundsigns.   [2] IPA does not look enough like traditional English writing to be read without a key [there is a slightly modfied version below that is pretty good]. 

At least 15 new phonograms in addition to the 23 in the alphabet  are needed to transcribe English speech.  4 new consonant phonograms [shown in khaki] and 11 new vowel phonograms. 

Unicode allows IPA special characters to be displayed on a web page. [see SAMPA ].  However, the problem of writing IPA remains.  The adoption of U2, as the standard for phonemic typing would permit the final character shapes to be anything.  PMF, a set of character shapes designed for rapid writing would be one of the alternates in addition to IPA.  The Shaw alphabet would be another option. 
 
 

Do not even attempt to introduce even minor changes until there is some appreciation for them.  People have to be familiar with the alternative spelling before they will accept it in any large numbers.  If everyone knew the pronunciation guide spelling for every word in the vocabulary, then it would be a small step to advocate using that spelling for everyday communication. 

To date, no one has had a pronunciation guide spelling that could be easily used in everyday communication. IPA does not qualify because it contains special characters that are yet to be supported by fonts and keyboards.  Most diacritic systems are too complicated and difficult to remember.  They also tend to complicate writing and typing.

 If the pronunciaiton guide found in dictionaries could be standardized to a form that could be easily typed and taught, then after a generation there would be a large number of people who could easily decipher pronunciation guide spelling.  It is more likely that a new standard pronunciation guide would be supported by some dictionary publishers than that a new writing system would be supported.

A better code has to exist in the minds of the majority before people will start using it.  Sharing is as important as the quality of the improved code. 

The first stage is to find a way to get the general public to use pronunciation guide spelling and to find some utility in it.  When the new code is understood by half of the readers, then some people will start to write in it rather than the traditional code. 

Anyone will be free to write in either dictionary code, the pronunciation guide code or the historical code.  The pronunciation guide code will be the favorite among those for whom English is a second language.  It is the easiest way to acceptable spelling.
quick link to a specific transcription:

Anglic

IPA

ITA

Spanglish

Truespel

Unifon 2

[UnifOn II - U2 ]  Raw unconverted Unifon II:  ^=namer dot, upper case marker, c = schwa, a as in ago.
^"w cns cpon c tIm Dc bUtifvl dotc c v c grAt majiSc n wqntcd mor pc rlz tu pvt cmxng hc r treZcrz, ^"lvk thrU Dc sent cr av Dc mun Wen it iz blU sed h cr mxthcr in ans cr tu hcr kwesC cn, ^"U mIt fInd ycr hqrtz dizIr."

There are many 60-70% solutions that more closely resemble the traditional orthography [ cut spelling , RIT E , etc.].  Some are not displayed here but can be found on other alternate notation pages.

The simplest solution to the "alphabet problem" [as Ben Pitman called it] is Unifon 2 . This is an ascii based pronunciation guide spelling that can be typed as fast as the traditional code. Since there are no silent letter digraphs [S=sh], it is a more compact way to spell. 

The trade off for encoding speed is a loss of decoding speed.  Unifon , even when presented in an alternate font, is more difficult to read since we are not used to reading single letters [blue cells in the chart] for sounds traditionally represented by digraphs. [Sh Ch Th added Dh Zh]

Spanglish is closer to the traditional writing system but a good deal more complicated that Unifon. Spanglish contains about ten rules such as [substitute e for a before r].   Short stressed vowels are followed by double consonants.  This is a strategy adopted around 1100 and is used by the traditional code with words of germanic origin. 

Anglic and Truespel use almost the same alphabet but do not look the same in print.  One reason is because Truespel marks stress with a double consonant when it is not on the first syllable.  Anglic accepts 42 high frequency irregular words [the, is, of, ...] which greatly improves its readability and the number of eye-rhymes. 

The following Graefim Fonim chart is in IPA notation contains 40 phonograms
No combinations such as /ai/, /au/, /oi/.
This is the territory that any reform notation needs to cover.
17 vowels, 23 consonants
9 free vowels - alms, earth, ago, ape, owe, all, eat, old, ooze, 
checked [short] 6 odd, and, up, egg, it, book
Missing phonograms for <wh> /hw/, <y> in <very>/veri/
SAMPA and Kirshenbaum ASCII equivalents. [A A.Q & V E e V" R @ @' ...]
caps tend to be short checked vowels altho O is a free vowel. 
 

In 1900, Henry Sweet , an Oxford linguist, wrote: 

The Roman alphabet , on the other hand, is quite independent of the scientific analysis of sounds. It has also been thoroughly tested in practice. Long experience and many experiments have selected the most legible and distinct types, and a script alphabet of the most practical character has been formed. In fact the difficulty of our present English spelling lies not so much in any of the inherent defects of the Roman alphabet as in our irrational use of it. 

There are four basic approaches to finding the best way to represent English speech.  For areas of disagreement with respect to how to what symbols or combinations of symbols should be used.  Purist want one and only one symbol per sound [one unique grapheme per phoneme].  Pragmatists  concerned about public acceptance want to use as much of the traditional system as possible.  To augment the alphabet, the traditional system adds silent letters to mark related sounds. 

Typology for pronunciation guide spelling

sound / code	unigraph 1 letter symbols	digraph 2 letter symbols
Shifted Anglocentric	Unifon 1, Unifon 2 A, E, I, O	Anglic, Truespel , i.t.a. New Spelling,  ae, ee, ie, oe
Latin sound values spanish alphabet	Shaw Alphabet, IPA E, I, ai, O	Spanglish , Yurabet, Ian ei, ie, ai, oa/owe

my eyesite is fine    mI IsIt iz fIn    mie iesiet iz fien    mai aisait iz fain
Ian's  long vowel sentences

Typology for pronunciation guide spelling

.../stress	always shows STRESS	sometimes shows has schwa symbol	never shows stress
Shifted Anglocentric	Truespel	Unifon, IPA, Ian Spl	Anglic, New Spelling, i.t.a.
Latin & IPA sound values	Saxon-Spanglish IPA with accents	Unifon, Yurabet Shaw Alphabet

asciibets vs. augmented alphabets

a - ah
ee-eh extended or eh+uh
e - emerging mid lax schwa sound
o - short pronunciation of awe
u - as in ooze

à è ò ù = schwa   o=awe    u=short u

Once upon a time, the beutiful dauter of a great magician wanted mor perls to put among her tresures. "Look thru the centr of the moon when it is blu," said her mothr in ansr to her qestion. "Yu might find yur hart's desire." The princess lafd, becaus she douted these words. Insted, she used her imagination, and moved into the fotografy bisness, and took pictures of the moon in color. "I perceve most certinly that it is almost wholy white," she thought. She also found that she coud make enuf money in eit months to by herself two lovly huge new jewels too.

 
Bophon Sample

Bophon 1
    Wuns upon` a tiim, the byuutiful dawtur uv a graat mujishun wunted mor purlz 
    tu peut umung` hur trezhurz.  "Leuk thru the centur uv the muun when it iz 
    blu," sed hur muthur in ansur tu hur kweschun, "yu miit fiind yur harts 
    deeziur.

    The Prinses laft doutingly beecawz` she weud not acsept` theez wurdz.  
    Insted` she yuuzd hur imajinaashun, muuvd intu the footogrufy biznes, and 
    teuk pikchurz uv the luunur surfus in culur.  "I purceev` moost surtenly 
    that it awlwaaz upirz` hooly whiit, she thawt.  She awlso found that she 
    keud maak eenuf` muny in aat munths so that she keud bi hurself` tu eenormus 
    hyuuj nu juelz tu.

Color Coded Version
w Once upon a ti me, the b eautiful dau ghterof a great myusi cian
want ed more pearls t o put amo ng her trea sures. "Loo k throu gh the
c enter of th e moo n when it i s blu e." sai d her m othe r in answe r
t o he r question, "y ou m ight f ind yo ur he arts des ire ."

     Prezent State ov Affairs in Inglish Orthography 
     A sample of Wijk's regularized English  - respelled words are highlighted 

     In the corseov its historical development Inglish haz today becum
     the moste widely spoken and moste widely taught ov aul the
     languages in existence.  To aul intents and purposes it iz indeed
     aulreddy the principal auxilliary language in the wurld. Oeing to its
     wide diffuzion and to the gr eit political cultural and financial
     importance ov the peeples h ooze mudther tung it iz, it seems
     likely that it will continue to hold this position and even becum
     increasingly important az time goes on.  If we ar not aul engulft by a
     major wurld catastrof y. 

There seems to be some disagreement on the sounds to be represented.  Bophon seems to merge the short u in hook with the schwa in the r combinations.  Unmarked u is an unrounded mid lax vowel in Bophon, a schwa is not marked as in ago and a.