Hello Stefan and list:
This is an excellent post. I am in my early 50s and have read Braille from
first grade. I fought mightily with the Nemeth code when I was taking math
in high school but that was probably more because of the lack of knowledge
of my V H teachers and the lack of a good reference book then anything else.
When I started working in the Braille field in the mid 80s it became
apparent to me that Braille as I knew it was not well suited to electronic
translation because of this very issue of Nemeth versus literary versus
music etc. The other thing that became painfully clear was how much
information conveyed on the printed page was not provided for in Braille.
Take for example the idea of changing color, changing type font, changing
size etc to provide meaning. And what about the troublesome issue of
unusual strings of letters and numbers together as in an email address or
web address. This is to say nothing of using upper and lower case letters
together.
I have been troubled by how personal the attacks on a unified code have
been. I know and have great respect for Dr. Nemeth, and I think his
argument that dropped numbers provides for member letter strings is a good
argument. I know that some will shriek in frustration when they read this,
but I believe that if we could start from scratch Braille writers and slates
and styluses should be 8 rather then 6 dots. That would solve so many
problems! It's too late for that, the infrastructure is all ready too well
established! But the painful truth is that if we don't modify Braille and do
it soon our children and grand children will not have a useable code.
Braille needs to evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century. Some will
struggle through this change, but it is necessary and I commend hw for being
forward thinking and putting U.E.BE. in the new version! As far as I'm
concerned, it's the right thing to do for the future of the Braille reading
community. Some one in upper management deserves a huge pat on the back for
doing this!
I'd suggest that any time a government contract is issued for a Braille
device, U.E.B. should be a required feature. That would be of real value in
moving this issue forward and we would all benefit significantly in the
long run!
Alan Holst
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stefan Slucki" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Why does HumanWare support UEB
Terry, Brandon and list,
Well, I wasn't going to respond, again, on the topic of U.E.B. but this
sounds like a conversation we need to have on-list--and finish with,
agreeing to disagree.
Braille, like any language, is an evolving phenomenon.
When Louis Braille drew together the system we now know, there were no
contractions--those were added later.
When I was in the U.S. in the 'Seventies, there were people advocating
for GRADE 3 braille which seemed completely goofey to me at the time.
I returned to Australia and picked up a few insights from a short-lived
code-reform called B.U.O.C.
Now, U.E.B. needs to be judged on its merits, but the knee-jerk
attitude that characterises some of the posts on this list speaks ill of
the self-centered, not to say short-sighted, outlook of some.
I've already indicated that the great advantages of U.E.B. (apart from
standardising English symbols) appear to be in the math,
physics/chemistry and other such technical codes. Those with expertise
in THOSE FIELDS should be given centre-stage in judging its worth, in my
view!
The fact that a few well loved signs are abolished . . . well, there
weren't ANY SUCH SIGNS before the grade two system was adopted so it's
our tradition that we regret losing. No one reading U.E.B. literary code
will be non-plussed by anything.
I am encouraged by those posts from folks, older than I, who have a
potentially-receptive outlook. I think we need to agree to disagree and
move on.
What I do ask, though, is for our American friends, in particular, not
to be referring to nations like New Zealand and Australia as "stupid"
for adopting U.E.B. You are free to disagree with such resolutions but
such provocative messages do re-inforce the Rambeau-image you regretably
have. I loved my time in Philli and wouldn't like to see this list
degenerate into name-calling.
That's my last word on U.E.B., I promise.
Stefan Slucki.
Stefan Slucki
Braille Instructor
Royal Society for the Blind
Phn 8232 4777
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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