Should "Braille" Be Capitalised? BANZAT (The Braille Authority of New Zealand Aotearoa Trust) is surveying New Zealand braille users, and other interested persons, in order to consider whether the word "braille" should be capitalised in all contexts when used in New Zealand English.
This matter was raised at the 2020 BANZAT AGM, and has since been a matter under discussion. Currently, "braille" is only capitalised when used as a proper noun (name), eg. "Louis Braille", but is given a lower case b when used as a regular noun or verb, eg. "I read braille books," or, "I will braille out the recipe." Arguments Two life-long braille users with different opinions were asked to share their positions on either side of this argument. IN FAVOUR OF RETAINING THE STATUS QUO Braille should be capitalised when it refers to the inventor, Louis Braille, or when braille begins a sentence. Braille does not need to be capitalised when it is a descriptor, such as braille books, braille handouts, braille materials, braille volumes. Braille has become normalised, mainstreamed, in everyday parlance in the context of a list of formats such as, this document is available in audio, braille, etext, large print and print. To capitalise braille in the formats context makes it unusual, rather than showing braille is equal to other formats in the family of formats. IN FAVOUR OF CHANGE Some inventions named after their inventors are capitalised, others are not. I capitalise Braille when referring to the code or format, because I never want to forget the genius of Louis Braille, his sacrifices and the resistance he overcame. He is an example of blind people taking control of our destinies and changing the world. Capitalising Braille gives the inventor the respect he is due. We do it with Morse code, and even the Nemeth code. Louis Braille gave us the gift of literacy. Every time we capitalise Braille, we show pride in what blind people can do for ourselves. Background Information Current practice is based on the Braille Authority of North America’s (BANA) position statement from 2006. BANZAT is the Aotearoa/New Zealand equivalent of BANA. Local communities are legally and morally entitled to influence local practices, such as the use of Te Reo Māori terms within mainstream English in Aotearoa/New Zealand, or the word "Deaf" being capitalised when referring to Deaf culture following a decision from the Deaf community. This poll is to gauge the preferences of NZ braille users. Should any administrative or legal follow-up be required, BANZAT will work through this. Concerns about this should not influence your choice. This poll is non-binding, however results will influence BANZAT's decision making on this issue. Please feel free to discuss this matter further, before or after answering this survey, on the BANZAT Facebook page. Make sure you press the NEXT button after answering question 1 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9FMGM3N -- With warm regards Solomon S [email protected] -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAH%3DCT_9rZGDo7Bmxg2T_%2B1cbEYb2rCC7OZrF9TvWzgBRzO1vrw%40mail.gmail.com.
