//
*Press Release*
*November 2012*
**
*For Immediate Release*
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CONTACT: Frances Mary D'Andrea, Chair
Braille Authority of North America
Phone: 412-521-5797
Email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
**
*BANA Adopts Unified English Braille (UEB) for United States*
On November 2, 2012, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) set a
new course for the future of braille in the United States (U.S.) when it
adopted Unified English Braille (UEB). The motion, which passed
decisively, specifies that UEB will eventually replace the current
English Braille American Edition and that the U.S. will retain the
Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation.
The transition to UEB will not be immediate and will follow a carefully
crafted timeline. Implementation plans will be formulated with the input
and participation of stakeholders from the consumer, education,
rehabilitation, transcription, and production communities. Plans will
take into consideration the various aspects of creating, teaching,
learning, and using braille in a wide variety of settings. The plans
will be designed to provide workable transitions for all involved in
braille use and production and to minimize disruption for current
braille readers.
UEB is based on the current literary braille code and was developed with
input from many people, primarily braille readers, who worked to achieve
an optimal balance among many key factors. Those factors include keeping
the general-purpose literary code as its base, allowing the addition of
new symbols, providing flexibility for change as print changes, reducing
the complexity of rules, and allowing greater accuracy in back translation.
Letters and numbers will stay the same as they are in the current
literary code. There will be some changes to punctuation, but most will
remain the same. Some rules for the use of contractions will change.
Nine contractions will be eliminated, and some contractions will be used
more often. A FAQ providing more detail about changes is available on
the BANA website.
After implementation, the official braille codes for the United States
will be /Unified English Braille/; /Nemeth Code for Mathematics and
Science Notation, 1972 Revision/ and published updates; /Music Braille
Code, 1997/; and /The IPA Braille Code, 2008/.
More detailed information about UEB and the motion that BANA passed can
be found on the BANA website at www.brailleauthority.org
<http://www.brailleauthority.org/>.
/The Board of BANA consists of appointed representatives from fifteen
member organizations of braille producers, transcribers, teachers, and
consumers./
//
/The mission and purpose of the Braille Authority of North America are
to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of
braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA promotes and facilitates the use,
teaching, and production of braille. It publishes rules, interprets, and
renders opinions pertaining to braille in all existing codes. It deals
with codes now in existence or to be developed in the future, in
collaboration with other countries using English braille. In exercising
its function and authority, BANA considers the effects of its decisions
on other existing braille codes and formats; the ease of production by
various methods; and acceptability to readers. /
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